Just Enemies
by bookwormatheart
Summary: When Sonny left So Random, she thought she left forever. Now, Marshall has invited her to come back to guest star. Hesitantly, Sonny agrees. With new friends and lots of drama, will Channy have a chance? Or are Chad and Sonny going to stay "just enemies"?
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hey everyone! This is my second fan fiction story and my first Sonny with a Chance fan fiction story, so I hope I do an okay job of representing all the characters. There will be TONS of Channy in here, so enjoy:) To those of you who read my last story, I'm experimenting with a few new things in this story. For instance, I'll be writing in different POV's though probably just Chad's and Sonny's. Hope you like it. Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Sonny with a Chance, because if I did I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing fan fiction about it._

Sonny's POV:

"Hi there! How can I help you today?" I tried to keep the smile on my face genuine, even though my mouth was starting to ache.

"I'm looking for the produce section. Can you tell me where that is?" The teenage girl, probably only a few years younger than me, looked like she was helping her mom with the shopping.

"Yeah, sure! Just go down that aisle, and to the right. You can't miss it."

"Thanks. And uh," the girl peered at me, "I hope you don't mind my asking but are you..." her eyes strayed to my name tag, "you are! You're Sonny Munroe from So Random!"

_Keep a smile on your face, keep a smile on your face, _I mentally reminded myself then said, "Yeah, I used to be on So Random."

"Oh.. yeah, right." The girl dropped her eyes, suddenly awkward. I could almost hear her unspoken question: _Why'd you quit?_ It was a question a lot of people had asked me since I'd left. I could only hope one day they would stop.

"Can I help you with anything else?" I asked, in the same cheery, perky tone I always used with my customers.

"No, thanks." The girl smiled at me. "Um, actually, would you mind giving me your autograph?"

I barely held back a sigh. "Sure, that's fine." I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from behind the counter and wrote:

_To a loyal fan, _

_Thanks for watching So Random! Stay strong. _

_Love, _

_Sonny Munroe _

Okay, so it wasn't the most enthusiastic message I had ever wrote, but at least I was trying! I handed it back to the girl, whose eyes grew wider. "I can't believe this! This is so awesome! Thanks!"

"You're welcome!" When she didn't move, I felt my smile wearing thin. "Bye!"

"Oh, right! Bye!" The girl stared at me for one second longer, then rushed off, her hand already reaching for her cellphone, probably so she could text all her friends about what had just happened. I could just imagine it. _Oh. My. Gosh. I just met Sonny Munroe from So Random at Shopmart! You've got to go check it out! _ I sighed and rubbed my neck. I had enough work to do without a bunch of fans rushing in here for autographs. I loved them, I really did, but they weren't even really _my _fans anymore. They were So Random's fans, and I wasn't on So Random anymore.  
>I looked down at the counter as memories of my last day on the show flooded over me. After we had finished filming Marshall had thrown a farewell party for me, which I thought was sweet since as far as they knew I was just leaving on a whim. I hadn't told them about... everything. What was the point? I was pretty sure they wouldn't understand. No, not them, having lived in their perfect Hollywood world for so long.<p>

I felt my throat tighten, but then shook my head and concentrated back on the farewell party. It had been very nice really, except for the overhanging cloud of questions and confusion. I had known that my cast members, Nico, Grady, Zora, and Tawni, were probably all pretty upset about my leaving, but I had tried to ignore the fact, and to their credit, they had tried hard too...

_Tawni bounced up and down as she handed me my going away present from her. "Open this one next!" _

_I laughed at her eager expression, but also felt touched. After all, it wasn't like Tawni and I had exactly been friends from the start, and even as we grew closer, she had remained pretty self-centered. I was kind of surprised she had remembered to buy me anything at all. _

"_Open it! Open it!" she urged. _

"_Fine!" I said, laughing, and tore open the wrapping paper of the first box like package she handed me. "Uhhh," I said, staring at the box of pink darts in my hand, "thanks Tawni! That was... really nice of you!" I smiled as big as I could and tried to look really excited._

_She rolled her eyes. "That's just part of your present." She handed me a larger present, that was almost circular. _

_I unwrapped it and burst out laughing. It was a pink dartboard, very Tawni-esque, but covering most of it was a huge cut out of Chad Dylan Cooper's face. Otherwise known as my ex's face. _

"_Oh my gosh Tawni! Where did you get this?" I asked, when I had stopped laughing to breathe. _

_She beamed. "I had it custom-made. Pretty cool, huh?" _

"_You had this custom-made? For me? Awwwww!" Before she could protest, I pulled her into one of my huge hugs. _

_She froze up. "Uh, Sonny, watch the hair." _

_I laughed and let her go. "There's the Tawni I know." _

_Tawni stopped trying to smooth down her hair and looked at me. To my surprise, her lower lip started to tremble. "Sonny... even though you're way too perky and happy all the time, and even though you come from some little nothing town in the middle of Wisconsin (which you talk about way too much by the way), and even though you have no sense of style... I'm really going to miss you." _

_I smiled at her, ignoring the insults and focusing on the compliment at the end. "Thanks Tawni. I'm going to miss you too." _

_Her lip trembled some more, then she quickly pulled me back into a quick hug before she turned and ran out of the room, wiping her eyes. _

_Nico and Grady came up to me next. "Sonny..." Nico started to say, but was interrupted by Grady's sniffles. "Man!" Nico stared at Grady, "please try to keep it together!" _

"_I'm sorry... I just hate goodbyes!" Grady blubbered. "We'll miss you Sonny. We'll never forget all you did for us. I don't know what we'll do without you." _

_I smiled, my eyes misting. Grady wasn't exactly a Prince Charming type, but he was sweet and sincere, and wasn't afraid to speak from the heart. I hugged him. "I'll miss you too Grady! And you can email me or text me anytime you need some special talk time, okay?" _

"_Okay." Grady swiped at his eyes then picked a badly wrapped package off the table. "Here's something for you." _

_I unwrapped it to find a vat of frozen yogurt and three super hero comic books. Grady smiled and nodded at the books. "Those are all first editions. I know you'll really like them." _

_I smiled at him again, knowing he had put a lot of thought into this gift. "Aww, thanks Grady. This is perfect." _

_Nico handed me a gift too and watched expectantly as I opened it. "Oh my gosh Nico! Is this all the Dusk movies?" _

_He grinned. "Yeah. I know how much you love Jackson Tyler, so I bought the boxed set for you." _

"_And," Grady continued, "we both pulled some strings and..." he turned the box over, showing me some large cursive writing on the back, "we got him to sign it for you!" _

"_NO WAY!" I stared at the signature, then looked back up to Nico and Grady. "But you guys hate Jackson Tyler." _

_Well... yeah. But you don't." Nico said. _

_I stared at them for a minute, a tear snaking its way down my cheek. "You guys! This is so amazing! You guys are the best!" I pulled both of them into a hug, trying to keep from bawling my eyes out. _

"_Okay, okay, break up the mush fest, its my turn." Zora walked up to me, and handed me a gift. "Check this out Sonny!" _

_I laughed and opened the gift. Before I could even ask, Zora said excitedly, "It's a listening device! So now, if you ever need to check up on any body, you can do it comfortably, instead of the old fashioned way of sneaking around in air vents." _

"_Wow, Zora. That's awesome!" I leaned down and gave her a huge hug. "Thanks." _

"_No problem. Oh, and Sonny," Zora grabbed a business card out of her pocket and handed it to me, "call me if you ever need my services." _

_I read the card which said, "Zora Lancaster. President of the Revenge Society of Hollywood, California." I laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." _

"_Sonny?" I turned around to find Marshall standing there, holding the boxed sets of the two seasons I had been on So Random. "We want you to have these. Everybody signed them somewhere, even the crew. We love you Sonny, and we're sorry to see you go." _

_I felt the tears start to sting my eyes again. "And I'm sorry to have to go." _

_Marshall raised his eyebrows, but only nodded. As he handed me the boxed sets he said quietly, "We'd love to have you back someday Sonny." I gulped, fighting tears. _

"_I don't know Marshall. Things have changed. I don't think Hollywood and So Random are meant to be my life anymore." _

"_Sonny," Marshall looked straight into my eyes, "sometimes its hard to tell what your life is meant to be. Just keep that in mind alright?" I nodded, wordless. Marshall cleared his throat and looked around. "Well everyone, Sonny has a flight to catch, so you better all say your last goodbyes."  
>As everyone clustered around me for last minute hugs, I heard Tawni shout, "Wait! I have one more present for Sonny!" She pushed her way through the crowd and shoved a cardboard box in my hand. "Thank you Sonny, for everything." She squeezed my hand and dashed out again. <em>

_Slowly I pried open the lid of the box and gasped. Inside were about twelve tubes of Tawni's favorite lipstick, Cocoa Moco Cocoa. One of my tears dropped down and shimmered on the lipsticks before I shut the box. "I can't believe it. She gave me her Cocoa Moco Cocoa." _

"_Well, you're worth it Sonny." Nico gave me another hug and then everyone pressed in around me, turning it into one giant group hug. _

_I laughed through my tears. "I love you all. But you're crushing me!"  
>Everyone laughed and released me. Slowly I walked toward the door, followed by cries of, "We'll miss you!" "Call me!" "Stay in touch!" "Don't ever change!" "We love you Sonny!" <em>

_I turned at the door and waved to everybody. "Bye everyone." _

"_Bye!" Everyone waved back as I walked out the door into the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief. Even though I loved them all, I was glad the goodbyes were over. Things could only get easier from here on out right? _

_Wrong. Cause suddenly, out of nowhere, completely blocking my path, was the last person I wanted to see right in front of me. Chad Dylan Cooper. _

"_Sonny!" His worried face relaxed into a relieved smile. "I'm glad I caught you!" _

"_What do you want Chad?" I said, keeping the dartboard with his head on it pressed up against me, carefully hidden from view. _

"_I-I just wanted to say goodbye. I thought maybe I could walk you out to your car?" _

"_No, I'm fine, thanks. Goodbye Chad." _

"_Really, Sonny, really?" His relieved smile changed into a slightly annoyed expression. "Just let me help you. You're carrying like a million things, and I need to talk to you." _

_I sighed. His expression changed again, this time into pleading. "Please?" _

_I rolled my eyes, exasperated, but at the same time with my heat thumping so hard I wondered if he could hear it. "Fine! Take this." I pushed Grady, Nico and Zora's gifts into his arms, but carrying Tawni's and Marshall's myself. _

"_That's better." We walked on for a few moments in silence before he spoke again. "Sonny... why are you leaving?"  
>I flinched. I had been expecting the question, but not like that. Not so direct it literally took my breath away. "Why do you care? We're not dating anymore." <em>

"_How could I forget that?" he said drily "You remind me practically every day I see you." _

"_Well that's because you seem to want to forget." I snapped, then quickly took a deep breath. There was no point in letting him get to me. That might be exactly what he wanted to do. _

_Chad didn't comment on my last statement, but went back to his original question. "So why are you leaving?" _

_I stopped and stared at him for a minute, then shrugged and continued walking, resigned to at least giving him some information so he'd stop bothering me. "Family issues." _

"_What kind of family issues?" He pressed. _

"_Don't you think that's kind of a personal question?" _

_He nodded. "Yeah. But I'm still asking it." _

"_Well I'm not responding to it." I said firmly. "Here's my car. You can put that stuff in the back seat if you want." _

_As he did so I carefully tucked the dartboard and box of Cocoa Moco Cocoa under the passenger seat of my car. As we both straightened, I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind right now. Was he sad to see me go? Or was this just another Chad head game?  
>"Well, I better get going." I said briskly, but was stopped by Chad's hand grasping mine. <em>

"_Sonny..." he leaned closer towards me, making me freeze. _

"_Yes?" I said, a little less briskly then I had intended. I couldn't help it. I was too busy noticing for the fifty-billionth time since I'd met him how blue his eyes were. _

"_It can't end like this." He turned me gently so I was facing him and stared at me, looking deep into my eyes as if searching for something. "You know you don't want it to end like this." _

_His voice, quiet but strong, undid something inside of me, and I dropped my eyes, tears shimmering in my eyes. "Of course I don't want it to. But it has to." _

"_Why?" Chad leaned closer, but I pulled back, instinctively widening the distance between us. I couldn't let this happen. _

"_Because. We're not together anymore Chad. That happened for a reason. And just because I'm leaving doesn't make that reason disappear." _

_I looked up to find his blue eyes cold with hurt. "Sonny, I told you I was sorry about what happened with the Tween Choice Awards. I was stupid, and dumb, and I'm so, so, so sorry. Isn't that enough?" _

_I looked down at my feet again. "I wish it was. But it isn't. I gave you second chances Chad. Probably more than you deserved. And now I'm done with that. I'm sorry Chad, you lost your chance." _

"_Sonny I-" he gripped my arms more tightly, the look in his eyes almost desperate. _

_Gently I pulled away, the tears that had been forming in my eyes beginning to slide down my cheeks. "Please. Don't make this any harder than it already is." _

"_Sonny." Chad reached for me, but I pulled back, pressing against my car. "I'm putting my heart on the line here. You know how I feel. I never stopped lov-" he stopped abruptly and stammered, "I mean, liking you. I need you. Please." _

"_I'm sorry Chad. No." I walked around to the other side of my car, tears threatening to blur my vision, but I blinked them back. "I'm sorry but this is goodbye." _

"_But-" _

"_Goodbye Chad." I opened my door and slid into the seat, slamming it hard to relieve some of the emotions storming inside of me. _

_I put the key in the ignition and turned it with a yank, pulling out of the parking space, away from my life in Hollywood, away from So Random, and away from my first love. I didn't look back. _

"Sonny? Sonny?" I looked up to see my manager standing in front of me. "Are you okay?"

I laughed awkwardly, quickly trying to blink away the tears that had begun to sting my eyes at the memories. "Yeah. Sorry, Marisa. What's up?"

"Your shifts over for today. You can go on home. I just wanted to let you know since it didn't look like you realized what time it was."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 5:30. So that explained why my stomach was rumbling. "Oh, uh, thanks Marisa. See you tomorrow then."  
>She nodded and walked away as I pulled at the string of my ShopMart apron, then lifted it over my head, revealing the plain sky blue polo and jeans I wore underneath.<p>

I grabbed my purse and the remains of my lunch from the back room and hurried out to my car, eager to get home and see my father and little sister, Heather. In months since my father had been feeling better, the evenings had been a lot more fun. Now we all ate dinner together at the table and afterwards played games or watched a movie. I smiled. It certainly wasn't Hollywood, but I thought it was beautiful just the same.

As soon as I walked in the house I was nearly clobbered by Heather. At eleven years old, she was still a hugger, and I was glad. I had missed so much with my little sister. I was glad I had come back into her life in time to receive some of her hugs.

"Hey Heather! How was your day?"

She pulled away from me and grinned. "Awesome! After I finished school I went over to Jenny's and we played with her new karaoke machine. It's soooo cool."

"That sounds fun." I threw my car keys on the kitchen counter and opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. "Where's Dad?"

"He's resting." She explained. "He said when you got home we could order out for pizza! We _have _to get pineapple on one this time."

"Agreed." I nodded, grinning. "Two against one. Dad can eat the whole other pizza, but we will have our pineapples."  
>"Yes! Should I wake him up?"<p>

"Little late for that." My dad rolled into the kitchen, carefully maneuvering around obstacles in his wheel chair. He smiled at me. "Hi there, Sunshine."

"Hey Dad." I leaned down and gave him a big hug. Then I flashed my biggest smile. "So what's this I hear about ordering out for pizza? I'm starved!"

"Lets get to it then. Hand me the phone Heather."

Heather ran over to the small kitchen table then dashed back. "Dad, Sonny and I want pineapples on one of them this time. Is that okay?"

My dad made a face. "I don't know how you guys can like that."

I laughed. "Everybody at So Random thought I was crazy for liking pineapples on my pizza too." My smile faded a little bit. _So Random. So many memories. _

My dad eyed me. "You doing okay darling?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah sure!" I smiled again, a little less enthusiastically.

"Alright." My dad dialed the number for the pizza place and ordered two medium pizzas, a sausage pepperoni and a Hawaiian pizza. Heather cheered. Once he had finished his call, my dad turned to her. "Heather? Why don't you go upstairs and make your bed while we wait for the pizza?"

Heather grimaced. "Do I have to?"

My dad grinned. "Sorry, yes. But we'll call you down when the pizza gets here."

Heather laughed. "Okay. Be right back."

After she left the room, my dad turned to me. "Sonny, I want to talk to you about something."

I hopped up on the counter and began to swing my legs. "What?"

He paused a moment as if trying to come up with the right words to say what he wanted to say. "Honey, I got a call from Marshall today. He wants you to come back to So Random. And I think you should."

_AN: Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know if you did and I'll continue. (Actually, I'll probably continue whether or not I get reviews, but hey, I'd still love to get them!) Thanks for reading! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Okay so first, thanks SO much for the reviews and the favorites and everything. I appreciate it a lot! Hope you enjoy this chapter! _

Sonny's POV:

One of my legs stopped swinging in mid-air, stuck straight out. This was a curve ball I had _not _been expecting. "What?" My voice sounded like someone had just squeezed all of the air out of lungs.

My dad looked straight at me. "Sonny, a lot has changed. Things went differently then anyone expected. There's no reason why you shouldn't go back to So Random."

_Actually there is. There's a really good reason that you can't even begin to understand. And his name is Chad Dylan Cooper. _I hopped off the counter, feeling numb. "Dad, this is my life now. I'm happy with it. Lets just drop it, okay?" I tried to paste a happy "Sonny smile" on my face, but couldn't quite do it.

"Sunshine..." my dad trailed off and sighed, "after the accident I knew I needed to find you. I wasn't even sure how much longer I was going to live and I wanted to tell you how much I loved you before things got really bad."

My throat tightened. "I know Dad. And you found me. And now I'm here. End of story."

"Is it Sonny, is it really?" I looked up stricken, almost expecting to find Chad in my dad's place. But my dad continued, "Honey, you know about my battle with depression. You know how bad it got after the accident when I lost the use of my legs."

"Dad what is this? Re-live the most horrible memories in your life day?" I laughed huskily, even as I blinked back tears. I still remembered seeing my dad for the first time in ten years, leaning over his hospital bed as a smile grew on his battered face. That's when I had learned the truth about my dad. The depression. The addiction. The pills. The drinking. All the things that had torn him and my mom apart shortly after Heather was born. All the things that had made him leave, taking my little sister, then just a baby, with him.

His hand covered my own. "Sonny?" He said softly. I looked up, dispelling the bad memories as I looked in the eyes of my concerned father. "Just because those were bad times doesn't mean nothing good came out of them."

"Of course something good came out of them. You found me and now I know you and Heather." I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

He nodded, but his smile faded. "Sonny, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life."

I shook my head. "You know it's okay. I forgive you."

He nodded again. "I know you do Sunshine. But when you came back into my life I promised myself that I'd tried my hardest not to make any more. And I think it would be a mistake for you to not go back to So Random."

I tensed. "Dad, I'm seventeen. I'm not a baby any more. I think I might have some idea of what's best for me too." I straightened, wanting to get away from the conversation.

"Sonny, what are you running from?"

The words were like a knife, slicing through my good intentions and excuses. Behind all of that there was only one reason I wasn't going back to So Random. _I'm afraid. _

"What am I running from?" I turned around, ashamed to find tears in my eyes. "I don't know, the endless questions? The awkward silences? All the changes? Cha-" I stopped. "I mean, people's reactions to my coming back?" I sat down hard in a kitchen chair. "But nothing important or anything."

My dad looked taken aback. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke. "Of course it's your decision. But above and beyond all those reasons you just listed for why you shouldn't go back, I have a reason that trumps all those why you _should_."

"Dad, if this is going to be one of those, 'Face Your Fears' speeches, I'm really not ready for that." I sighed.

My dad chuckled. "No, nothing like that." He rolled closer to me and looked me straight in the eye. "I think you should go back because you love it. It's a part of you Sonny. An important part. Sure, it's your work, your job, but it's also your life. Or at least it was until I wrote you that letter."

I shook my head violently. "You know I don't regret that. And I don't regret coming here. Or quitting So Random. You and Heather are way more important than my life in Hollywood."

"Thank you for saying that. I know you don't regret it, and I appreciate it. I don't think you should. But I do think you'll regret it if you don't go back. Sonny, you know you're not really _happy _here. Working at ShopMart, taking care of nosy customers, coming home to a family that you love of course, but your life can't revolve entirely around family. You haven't made friends, and you don't seem to like your highschool. I think its time you considered the fact that this might not be meant to be your life."

I ducked my head. All he was saying was just a little too true.

"What about you and Heather? I just found you guys. I can't leave you again." I protested.

He chuckled. "Don't worry. We won't let you forget us. We'll call you twice a day if you want. And you can come back for some holidays and breaks. I'm sure your mom won't mind."

I nodded. "But what about your depression?"

He smiled. "Sonny, you know its getting better. A lot better. The therapy has been working. My therapist thinks with a few more sessions I should be able to switch to just monthly sessions. I'm off the pain meds, and I'm just in a really good place right now. I think we should act on that." He glanced at me, as I searched my brain for more excuses. "You don't have to sign a contract in blood right this second. Just promise me that you'll call Marshall back and get some details. And then, just think about it."

I sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll call him and think about it. Really think about it. But I can't promise anything."

"That's all I ask." My dad smiled at me.

The doorbell rang and I heard my little sister's feet on the stairs even as she screamed, "PIZZA'S HERE!"

I laughed and looked at my dad. "Looks like its time for some delicious pineapple pizza."

My dad made another face. "Gross."

I laughed again. "Complain all you want, but you're still paying!"

My dad sighed melodramatically. "The things I do for you girls."

As he moved out of the kitchen, I sighed and closed my eyes for a minute. _Going back to So Random. Now that is one I wasn't expecting._

I flopped down on my bed, then groaned. My stomach was still a little full to be doing that. Slowly, I picked up my cellphone and stared at it. _Might as well get this over with. _I dialed Marshall's number and held my breath as it rang, part of me praying that I would get voicemail.

"Hello?" _Crap. _

"Hey Marshall. This is Sonny."

"SONNY!" His obvious excitement made me laugh in spite of myself.

"Yes, Sonny! I hope I'm not calling too late..."

"No, no, no it's fine." It sounded like Marshall took the phone away from his mouth for a second. "Just give me a minute, okay?" I heard someone murmur something in the background on the other side of the line.

"Oh, are you busy? I can just call back later." I said.

Marshall came back to our conversation. "What? Oh, no, I'm not busy. Just a little scheduling conflict I was trying to figure out. But nothing important. At least, nothing nearly as important as you calling me back."

I felt like it was time to warn him. "Marshall I'm just calling back for details. And mostly cause my dad wanted me too. This doesn't mean I'm coming back necessarily."

"Of course, of course. I understand completely. Well let me give you some details then. Everything would basically the same, except I've spoken to Mr. Condor and he's agreed to up your salary."

I bit my lip. Extra money would be good. My dad's therapy and treatment were expensive. "I have to admit that sounds tempting."

"Good! That's what I was going for." Marshall chuckled, then hesitated. "Uh, Sonny, have you watched So Random recently?"

I felt my spine tense, guessing what was coming, but I just laughed. "Of course I have! I rarely miss an episode. I have to make sure you guys are being funny enough without me."

Marshall laughed, then turned serious again. "So you know there are some... new cast members on the show?" His tone was careful, as if he knew this was probably a sensitive subject.

_Oh gosh, just say it. Chad's on the show now. I know. You know. Everybody knows. Why not just say it? _"Yeah. I know." I carefully kept my voice indifferent. "The new group of kids seem amazing. They're constantly cracking me up."

"So," Marshall hesitated again, "you don't, um, have a problem with any of the new additions?"

"Of course not! Why would there be a problem?" I lied.

"Oh, I don't know." Marshall said vaguely. "Just wondering."

"I just still don't know if I should come back. Do you think I'd be welcome?"

"YES!" I blinked, surprised by the vehemence of the response.  
>"Marshall was that you?"<p>

"Uh, um, yeah, that was me. Just, uh, trying to convince you." Marshall's nervous laughter filled my ear.

"Uh, okay." I said, not completely convinced. On the other hand, who else could it have been?

"You know Sonny," Marshall said hastily, as if eager to change the subject, "you wouldn't necessarily have to come back to the show right away. We could have you as a guest star on one of the episodes. You know, so you could see how the new dynamic works for you."

I bit my lip and considered this. "No strings attached? No contracts or agents, just me coming back to the show to try it out?"

"Sure." Marshall said quickly.

"What would I have to do?" I said, still a little hesitant.

"We'd feature you in some of the sketches, probably more than the average guest star is featured in, but still not all. And then you could perform a song at the end. Be our musical guest as well."

I sighed as my dad's words flashed through my head. _You love it Sonny. _And he was right. Totally completely right. And I had missed it. So much. This offer seemed so perfect...

"Of course," Marshall continued, hearing my sigh and misinterpreting it, "if you don't want to sing, you don't have to."

"What? Oh, of course I want too! I was just trying to figure out if this was something I wanted to do."

"Well, Sonny, there's really no hurry. You don't have to make a decision right now. I know there may be some reasons you wouldn't want to come back to So Random."

I sat up quickly, my pride smarting from Marshall's sympathetic tone. If he thought Chad was going to keep me from being on my favorite show... he was _extremely _mistaken.

"Marshall I'll do it." I said, not giving myself time to think about it. I clapped my hand over my mouth immediately after, part of me wishing I could have those words back. _No, this is a good thing. It'll work out. You just have to let yourself go with the flow. _

"Really? Great! Fantastic! Wonderful!" Marshall's genuine happiness warmed my heart.

"When would you need me?" I said.

"Well... ideally as soon as possible. We need a guest star for next week's show and we'd need you up here for rehearsals and run-throughs and all that. Do you think you could swing that?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Perfect." As Marshall gave me some final travel information, I felt my mind reel. _Am I really going to do this? _

"Alright Marshall. Thanks so much." I said.

"No, Sonny, thank you!"

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later." I said, feeling butterflies dancing in my stomach.

"Alright. Sure thing. Goodbye Sonny!"

"Bye Marshall!" I hung up and sat very still for a few minutes. Through all the chaos muddling my brain, one thought stood out, perfectly clear and frightening. _What am I going to do about Chad?_

Chad's POV:

"I don't believe this. She agreed?" I sat back in my chair which I had been on the edge of for the past five to ten minutes.

"Yep. She agreed." Marshall was grinning ear to ear. "No thanks to you, however. Nice job with the 'YES'."

I felt myself start to blush. "Hey, you weren't saying it fast enough." _It's not like I completely lost control and yelled that in a desperate attempt to get Sonny back here or anything. No, nothing like that. _

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

I leaned back in my chair, a grin of my own starting to spread across my face. "I can't believe I get to see Sonny again for the first time in 378 days." Marshall gave me a weird look and I awkwardly coughed and sat up again. "Not that I've been counting or anything."

"Right." Marshall leaned towards me. "Chad, you're a pain-"

"Hey!" I said. "CDC is not a pain!"

Marshall sighed. "Well, a.) you didn't let me finish and b.) oh yes, CDC is a pain and Chad is only a slightly less big pain."

"Does this insult session have a point?" I asked quickly.

"I was going to say, you're a pain, but you also seem to be a pretty nice guy some of the time and I know how you feel about Sonny-"

"How do you know?" I said, nervously.

Marshall glared at me and continued without answering. "So I'm going to offer you some advice. Or, at least, a warning. You might want to be prepared for the fact that Sonny might not want to see you. I mean, not even a little bit."

I sagged back in my chair, feeling like someone had just punched me in the gut. "You think I don't know that?"

Marshall shrugged. "Just thought I'd warn you."

"Marshall?" I focused on a spot on the wall so I wouldn't have to look at his face while I said this. "Have you ever had someone who... well... you thought might be... like... your, uh, um, soulmate?" I muttered the last word, half-hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Well-" Marshall began, but I cut him off.

"Like, no matter how mad you get at them you know you'll always forgive them in the end because you know they have a piece of you. A piece _you _didn't even know you had until you met them?" I sighed and kept going. "And no matter how far away you are from them, they're always still near you, in your dreams, or your thoughts, or your imagination. And you can't shake this feeling that you're missing half of your heart or something." I focused back on Marshall's face. "You know what I mean?"

Marshall nodded. "I think they call that love."

I sighed and let my eyes drift away from him again. _Do I? Do I really _love _Sonny? _I pictured her long dark hair, falling down her back, the hair I had played with and run my fingers through. Her beautiful smile, the smile that still made my heart skip a beat in a very un-Chad like way. I thought of her pretty laugh, her sense of humor, her caring heart, and the feeling of complete happiness I had always felt when I had pulled her into my arms. And that's when I knew I had to get out of here.

"I got to go Marshall." I jumped up. "Sorry. I'll see you at the run-throughs in a couple of days. Bye."

"Chad-" he began, but I didn't wait to hear what he had to say. I dashed out of the room and ran down the hall towards the exit. As soon as I was outside I stopped and took a deep breath and started to walk slowly through the parking lot to my car. _Yeah, the parking lot where Sonny pretty much re-dumped your sorry butt last year. _I groaned and smacked my forehead. Was it my fault that literally everything reminded me of her?

My dressing room, where we had shared laughs and lunches on break. Where I had tried to get ready for our real first date. Emphasis on tried. The hallways, where I had constantly run into her, first accidentally, then more and more purposefully, though I wouldn't have admitted it for the world. The Mackenzie Falls set, where she had come to see me when we were dating, or come to bother me when we "hated" eachother. Even some of the So Random sets, like the carnival set where we had broken up and then shared our first kiss in the backwards way we always do things. My favorite sushi restaurant where I had taken her so many different times. The movies, where I had held her hand and, later in our relationship, completely forgotten the movie when I was kissing her. Even when I turned the on the TV I was reminded of her, whether it was re-runs of old So Random episodes or the kid's show "Pauly and Pals".

I reached my car and opened the door. _Sonny' s coming back. What will I do when I see her again? In person? Can I handle that? _I sighed as I started the car. This was sure to be another series of head games, awkward moments, and hiding my real feelings. _Here we go again._

_AN: Sooo first time writing in Chad's POV part of the time. What did you think? Every time I write for a new character I'm convinced its going to be really hard, but writing for Chad and Sonny has been pretty easy so far and definitely fun. Please review if you liked it! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Oh my gosh. You guys are incredible! Seven reviews on the last chapter! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Sorry for the kind of long delay, life has been super crazy lately. Thanks to DynamicDemz, DannySamLover20, Sophbells, LilRockerStar, kitkat299 (By the way, I love kit kats, there are my favorite candy that includes chocolate so I LOVE your username), and seddiefan64 for reviewing. To seddiefan64 and Sophbells in particular your reviews made me laugh. (By the way seddiefan64 I'm a fan of your stories, so I was so psyched you reviewed! I am such a Seddie shipper! :p) Thanks SO MUCH to everybody who reviewed, please continue! Enjoy this chapter! _

Sonny's POV:

_He opened his arms as I walked toward him, a happy smile on his face. "Sonny." I let him pull me into his arms and rested my head against his chest, feeling the tension flow out of me. _

"_Chad, I missed you." I couldn't believe how easily the words came. I had been expecting our first meeting to be awkward, but it wasn't. _

"_I missed you too Shortstack." Chad teased me gently with his nickname for me, a name I hadn't heard in over a year. _

"_I never thought I'd be happy to hear you call me that." I tilted my head up towards his and batted my eyelashes. "Well, what are you waiting for?" _

_Chad grinned. Slowly he shut his eyes and leaned forward. I held my breath and shut my eyes as well, waiting for the pressure of his lips on mine. I waited for what seemed like an eternity, then finally opened one eye. He was gone. Quickly, I opened both eyes and looked around. I was standing in the prop house, my arms down at my sides. I shivered. "Hello?" The room seemed eerily quiet. "Is anybody here?" _

"_Sonny?" I turned and saw Tawni walk in. _

"_Tawni!" I ran forward for a hug, but she stepped back. _

"_What are you doing here?" Tawni folded her arms in front of her and tossed her hair. "We don't need you anymore." _

"_Wha-what?" I gasped. "What do you mean?" _

"_We have someone better than you now, Sonny. Far, far better." Tawni stepped forward almost threateningly and I moved backwards, almost knocking into one of the props. _

"_Tawni, what's going on? Who are you talking about?" _

"_Yo, wassup in here! It's CDC in the house!" Chad walked in, running his fingers through his hair in the process. He was wearing huge sunglasses and a leather jacket with "CDC" spelled out on the back in studs. I stared at him. _

"_Chad? What the heck?" I sputtered. _

_Chad gave me a weird look. "Tawni, who is this chick invading CDC's space?" _

_I gasped. "I'm Sonny... your old girlfriend?" _

_His gaze traveled up and down my body. "Nah, I don't think I ever dated you. You don't look familiar. But speaking of dating..." he clapped his hands and three girls rushed in the room, wearing shirts with Chad's face on them. _

"_CDC! You're sooooo cool!" One of the girls literally tackled him, sending him tumbling to the floor. _

"_Hey, easy there babe!" Chad paid no attention to the girl, who was at this point running her fingers feverishly through his hair. "There's enough CDC for everybody!" _

"_Even for me?" Tawni flipped her hair behind her shoulder and smile flirtatiously.  
>"Sure thing babe. You can be Girlfriend #4. Take a seat." He patted the floor next to him. "Enjoy the show." As he said this, he slid off the leather jacket, revealing a thin white tank top underneath. The girls screamed, including Tawni. <em>

_I stared at him. "Chad... when did you turn into this? You were pretty bad when I first met you, but this is just crazy." _

_He didn't pay any attention to my question, just wiggled his eyebrows. "Hey hot stuff. You can be Girlfriend #5 if you want. Come on, what do you say? This is the chance of a lifetime. You know you want to. Don't miss out! Don't miss out. Don't miss out. Don't miss..." _

"Miss? Miss?" My eyelids flew open, and I practically jumped from my seat.

"What? What's going on? Chad?"

"Miss! Calm down! The plane has landed. I thought I should come back and tell you. You've been asleep practically the whole flight."

I blinked hard and flipped the hair out of my eyes. A woman was standing to the side of me, gripping my arm, her eyes concerned, but also exasperated. I looked around. _Oh. Right. I'm on a plane. To Hollywood. To go back on So Random. _I noticed that no one else was in the seats around me and finally registered what the flight attendant had said. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I took a sleeping pill and I guess it was stronger than I thought." I jumped up so fast the attendant gave a little shriek. "Oh, sorry! It's just, someone's supposed to meet me here and I don't want them to worry." Quickly I snatched my carry on bag from the cabinet above my seat and smiled at the stewardess. "But thanks so much for your help! Bye!"

I practically ran out of the plane and towards the baggage claim. When I got there I saw my mother standing to one side with my bags already collected. When she saw me she smiled and ran towards me, pulling me into a gigantic hug. "Sonny! I've missed you! Are you alright sweetie? Why didn't you get off the plane with everybody else? I've been waiting here for five minutes!"

I blushed. "Yeah... I took a sleeping pill." My mom looked a little disapproving. "Mom, I had to. You know I freak out on airplane rides." I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I'm here now, and I'm fine. The flight attendant just had to wake me up and it took me a second to get my bearings."

"Alright sweetie, if you're sure you're fine." We walked back to my suitcases. "Honey, don't you think this is a little much for just a weeks visit? Your only filming one show."

I laughed. "Mom, you know I always over-pack. Plus, I figured while I was here I'd go around and see the sights, visit friends. I don't know what all I'll be doing so I figured I'd pack for pretty much every occasion I could think of. That way I won't get caught off guard."

My mom laughed and nodded. As I reached for my bag though, she grabbed my hand. "Sonny, can I ask you something?"

I raised an eyebrow at her serious tone. "Um, sure."

"Are you thinking of coming back to So Random. I mean, permanently?"

"Mom..."

"I'm sorry, but you didn't give me very many details over the phone and I'd just like to know a little more about this."

I sighed. "This is basically just a trial run. Marshall agreed I could come and guest star so I could get a feel for the new dynamic of the show and make sure I liked it. That's all Mom. Really."

My mom studied my face for a moment. "So you're not hoping for anything more?"

I bit my lip. I had a feeling that she wasn't talking about my career anymore. _If you mean Chad, I have no idea what I'm hoping for. But I do know I'm stressing about it. That messed up dream proved that. _"No, I'm not hoping for anything else." I said firmly, despite my uncertainty.

"Good." My mom dropped my hand. "Then I'll take you home and you can start unpacking. Marshall called and he wants you at the studio in a couple of hours. Is that okay with you?"

The butterflies in my stomach, which had subsided in the rush to find my mom, started to swirl, whirl, and dive bomb again. I swallowed hard. _You are _SO _not chickening out now Munroe. _"That sounds great!"

"Alright. Well the cars out front..."

Chad's POV:

"Dude. Chill." Shayne rolled his eyes as I continued to stare at the wall. "Or, you know, continue to hyperventilate in a corner. Whatever works for you."

I took a deep breath and tried to keep from throwing up, having a seizure, start screaming at the top of my lungs, or anything else along those lines. "Sonny. She'll be here any minute. Why is this happening? Why of all places do I have to be here, when Sonny's coming back."

Shayne slapped himself on the forehead. "Dude, you're killing me. I thought you _wanted _to see her."

"I do! I just don't... you know... want to see her. You know, in like a physical sense." _I am so losing it. "In a physical sense"? Get a grip Cooper. _

"You are so losing it." Matthew laughed as he walked up to us. "Sup Shayne! Any progress?"

Shayne shook his head. "No, he's still as much of a nervous wreck as he was a half hour ago."

"Hey!"

"Chad, look at yourself." Matthew picked a hand mirror up off my dressing room table. "He has a right to say it."

I glanced in the mirror. The guy I saw in there looked like _nothing _like Chad Dylan Cooper, beloved television star and definitely the coolest Random on set. It looked more like a really, really, really pale, nervous guy with terrified blue eyes who was about to pee himself. "Wow."

"Yeah." Matthew put down the hand mirror. "Come on man. You can do this. Just think of her as another ex-girlfriend. I'm sure you have many of them." Matthew almost rolled his eyes, but seemed to think better of it at the last minute.  
>I glared at him, then said, "But Sonny's different. She always has been. She's ten times more important to me than any other ex ever was. She's beautiful, and thoughtful-"<p>

"And caring, and talented and special. We know." Shayne picked up the picture of her that I had. It was usually hidden, but at this point I didn't even care that it was lying out for everyone to see. Shayne laughed and said, "I just think she's hot."

_Uh, excuse me? _I snatched the picture away. "Cut it out."

"Okay, okay, seriously now." Matthew, probably the nicer guy of the two motioned to Shayne. "Bring in Damien."

I rolled my eyes. "Great, now more people can see Chad Dylan Cooper turn into a gigantic, quivering mass of jello because his ex-girlfriend is coming back into town. Terrific."

Matthew laughed. "Yep. Looks like it." As soon as Shayne had left he knelt beside me. "Chad, you need to snap out of it. Do you want Sonny to see you like this?"

I shook my head miserably. "No."

"Okay, then think of the situation like this. Sonny sounds like a great girl. At least that was the vibe I was getting from the endless conversations we've had about her."

"Hey!" I said again.

"Dude. Don't even deny it. We both know its true." Matthew continued. "Anyway, you need to be strong for Sonny. If you're like this at the thought of seeing her, think of how she must feel. Make it not awkward for her sake."

I took a deep breath. "You're right." Slowly I stood up. "I'm ready now."

"Good." Matthew clapped me on the shoulder as Damien, Nico, and Grady walked in.

"Okay so I hear Chad is having a meltdown." Damien began. "So I brought myself, full of wisdom on the art of understanding women-"

"And I brought some frozen yogurt-" Grady smiled encouragingly at Chad.

"And I brought a camera, cause there's no way I'm going to miss a potential 'embarrass Chad on the internet' moment." Nico grinned.

Matthew laughed. "Thanks for coming guys, but I think he's good."

"Dang it." Nico set his camera down. "I missed it."

Just then Marshall put his head in. "Hey guys, can you all head down to the prop house please? Sonny just got here and we're going to start the run-through soon." Just as quickly he was gone.

"Come on man. Lets do this." Damien smiled at me. I took another deep breath and returned his smile as we all walked out into the hallway. _Come on man, you can do this. You're CDC. You got this. You got this! _

As we all walked into the prop house I felt myself freeze. _There she is. She's perfect. Just like I remember her. She's... she's.. she's..._ She turned to face me, her smile fading for a second, then reappearing slowly. "Hey, Chad."

"H-hi Sonny. I-I, I...I..." I felt my stomach take a sudden dive.

"Chad, are you okay?" Matthew looked concerned. "You look like you're going to-"

" Uhh, I gotta go!" As I rushed out of the room and towards the mens restroom I heard Sonny say, "Is he okay?" Two minutes later, when I was finished leaning over a toilet and throwing up, I straightened and leaned against the stall door, feeling like crawling into a hole and dying there. _Smooth move Chad. Smooth freaking move. _

Sonny's POV:

"Is he okay?" I said quickly as Chad bolted from the room.  
>There was a long moment of awkward silence. "Yeah, he's fine." One of the guys came towards me. "He just must have had something bad in the cafeteria. You know how the food here is." He stuck out his hand, a sparkling grin on his face. "I'm Shayne by the way. It's nice to meet you."<p>

"Hey Shayne." My mind was still reeling from what had just happened, so I barely noticed the guys firm grip. _The cafeteria food isn't _that _bad._

"And this guy here is-" Shayne continued gesturing to a tall guy standing next to him.

"Is Matthew Bailey." I smiled. I had done a little research before arriving here. I took his hand, returning his friendly smile. "You're not gonna believe this... but I love your work. You're crazy hilarious."

Matthew ducked his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Wow, thank you. That means a lot to hear you say that."

"Well you deserve it." I smiled at him again, instantly deciding I liked him. "You're really talented."

"Thanks. This is our friend Damien." He said, apparently wanting to stop being the center of attention.

Damien smiled at me. "It is so great to meet you."

"Damien aka Zombie Man?" I smiled when he nodded. "You're so great on the show. I especially loved your recurring bits in the last Halloween episode."

"Thanks. I loved your work on So Random too. You were my inspiration to audition actually."

"Woah, really? Well I'm honored to have been your inspiration." I said, deciding Marshall had done way better than I had even dared to hope in selecting the new cast members.

"Ahem!" Nico grinned at me. "Now that you're through with the newbies, you want to show some love to your old friends."

I laughed. "Nico! Grady!" I hugged both of them. "It's incredible to see you both. You did _not _call me enough at all."

"Sorry." Grady began, "I've been busy."

"Yeah." Nico teased. "With Mel."

"Oh my gosh! Grady! Are you guys together now?" As he nodded and blushed, I jumped up and down. "That is so great! I can't wait to see her. Details later, okay?"

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Sure thing Sonny."

"So?" I gave Nico the evil eye. "What's your excuse?"

Nico laughed. "Well, ah, I may have been busy too. With a certain girl named Grace Wetzel."

"She's one of the new girls on the show isn't she?" I said, smiling.

"Yeah. You'll get to meet her in a second. The girls should be here any second."

"SONNY!" I looked up to see Tawni running toward me.  
>"Tawni! Oof!" I said as she knocked into me with a huge hug. "Yeah, I've missed you too. But you're crushing my spine!"<p>

Tawni laughed and released me. "Sonny! You're back! I can't wait to introduce you to all the new girls. They're fantastic."

I blinked. _Wow, Tawni must really have gotten used to the idea of having other girls on the show besides Zora and herself since I joined the cast. She hated having _any _of the limelight taken from her back then. _I shrugged. _I guess a person really can change a lot in three years. _

"This is Grace, Bridget, Audrey, and Rebecca. And of course you know Zora."

"Hey Sonny!" Zora gave me a hug. "Great to see you!"

"It's great to see you too Zora. And it's great to meet all you girls! You all make me laugh so hard during the sketches." I smiled at all of them, then turned toward Rebecca. "I'm sorry, I don't think I remember you from the show. Are you new?"

Rebecca laughed. "No, I'm just a dancer on the show. But they're thinking of putting me in some sketches pretty soon as an actress too."

"Oh, that's awesome!" I smiled at her. "Well let me know if you ever need help memorizing your lines or anything. I have a couple drills I think would help."

"Thanks for the offer, I just might take you up on that."  
>"Awesome." I turned to look at the doorway just as Marshall walked in, followed by a very subdued Chad in a different shirt then he had been wearing before. Instantly, I felt my spine tense.<p>

"Alright everybody, open your scripts to page one. We'll start the run through from there."

I sat down on the couch and opened my script, trying to keep my eyes from constantly straying up to Chad, but it was nearly impossible. He was looking straight down and his cheeks were bright red, but he still looked good. _Way too good. _The light blue t-shirt he was wearing now accentuated his eyes and his ripped up jeans looked casual but hot at the same time. I took a deep breath and tried to focus back on the words of the script as Tawni began.

Tawni: Hey everybody! We've got a great show for you tonight with a really special guest! That's right, SONNY MUNROE IS HERE!

I looked up to find Chad staring at mine. For a minute the world stopped, I couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Chad's eyes widened. For a second we just sat like that, staring at eachother from opposite sides of the room, but the searing pain in my side reminded me that I needed to breathe, and I dropped my eyes. I realized my cheeks were suddenly very hot and my breath was coming short. _Is this what its going to be like all week? Oh boy, this should be fun. _I wanted to look up again, but I didn't dare to. I knew from experience seeing Chad was like a drug. It made you feel amazing but after the high all that was left was a let down. Heart break. _And if keeping away from the heart break means keeping away from Chad, the drug I have become addicted to, so be it._

_AN: Hope you liked it! Please review! New chapter should be coming soon. Thanks for reading! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry for the wait my life has been SUPER busy and crazy recently! But thanks SOOO much to those who reviewed: ObsessedwithDisneyChannel, kitkat299, ChannyFan97, Dewfrost314, LilRockerStar, and DannySamLover20. I really, really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy this next chapter, it includes some Demi Lovato lyrics. Obviously I don't own these, they're far to awesome for me to have written, but go check them out if you haven't heard them. They're World of Chances and Lightweight, and as I said before, both by Demi Lovato. I don't own So Random or Sonny with a Chance. Enjoy this chapter! _

Sonny's POV:

Grabbing a hair tie off my dressing room table I quickly pulled my hair back in a messy bun and sat down on the bean bag chair in the corner of the room. I pulled my guitar onto my lap and adjusted it before grabbing my song notebook off the floor. I had been writing songs for so long that I had gone through several of them since I was a kid, but this one hadn't been used in a while. As I scanned the notebooks pages I realized I had only written about three songs since I had left So Random. And all of them were sad.

I sighed and flipped to the beginning of the notebook and began to thumb my way through it. I smiled as I saw the familiar lyrics of _Me, Myself, and Time_, and _Work of Art _come into view. I had loved singing those on the show. After that my smile faded. as I flipped through a few more pages and found a song I had been trying to forget. The page was dotted with tear spots and the corners of it were filled with storm clouds and broken hearts. Slowly I read over the familiar words I had written shortly after my break up with Chad.

_**World Of Chances**_

_You've got a face for a smile you know  
>A shame you waste it when you're breaking me slowly<br>But I've got a world of chances for you  
>I've got a world of chances for you,<br>I've got a world of chances,  
>Chances that you're burning through<em>

I've got a paper and pen  
>I go to write you goodbye and that's when I know<br>I've got a world of chances for you,  
>I've got a world of chances for you,<br>I've got a world of chances,  
>Chances that you're burning through<p>

Oh, I'm going my own way  
>My faith has lost its strength again<br>Oh, it's been too hard to say  
>We've fallen off the edge again<br>We're at an end  
>We're at an end<p>

Maybe you'll call me someday  
>Hear the operator say the number's no good<br>And that she had a world of chances for you,  
>She had a world of chances for you,<br>She had a world of chances,  
>Chances you were burning through<br>Chances you were burning through  
>Chances you were burning through<p>

You've got a face for a smile you know

I looked up quickly as someone walked into the room. "Oh!" Shayne looked surprised to see me. "Sorry, I was looking for Tawni. Do you know where she went?"

"Yeah, I think she's in the cafeteria." I waited for him to nod and leave, but instead his eyes slid to the notebook in my lap.

"What are you writing?" He turned his head to read the writing on the front cover. "Song Notebook. That's right, you write your own songs. Wow, you must be really talented." His flirty grin caught me off guard.

"I guess you could say that. But I don't know about _really _talented." I paused a second. "I'm sorry, is there something else you needed?"

He laughed. "Nah. I was just trying to think of an excuse to stay so I could hear you sing."

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to hear me sing?"

He walked over next to my bean bag chair and sat down. "Well, since you insist."

I hesitated. "Uh, I don't know about this. I haven't sung in front of anyone in a really long time."

"Well, you gotta start small. And trust me, I'm easy to please. Play me whatever you want."

I smiled in spite of myself and nodded. "Okay. But if I suck... lie."

Shayne laughed again. "Don't worry. I'm an actor. I'm awesome at lying."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want to hear?"

"The best love song you have in there." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I ignored him. "Alright then." I adjusted my guitar again and started playing the opening notes to what I considered to be one of the best songs I had ever written.

_The slightest words you said  
>Have all gone to my head<br>I hear angels sing in your voice  
>When you pull me close<br>Feelings I've never known  
>They mean everything<br>And leave me no choice_

Light on my heart, light on my feet  
>Light in your eyes I can't even speak<br>Do you even know how you make me weak

As I continued to sing Shayne's teasing grin faded, replaced by a softer smile. As I sang the last words and played the final notes he continued to stare at me. I finished and waited for him to say something. The silence stretched long as he stared at me. "Uh, Shayne? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah I think so." Shayne sat up straighter and blinked a couple of times, as if coming out of a dream. "I know what he was talking about now."

"Uh, who? And what was he talking about?" I cleared my throat a little awkwardly. I didn't exactly like the way Shayne was looking at me.

He barely seemed to notice my awkwardness. His gaze switched to my lips. "Chad... he was talking about you."

Electricity shot up my spine at the mention of his name. I clasped my hands quickly. Shayne's eyes came back up to mine. "What? What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing." Quickly I clambered to my feet. "Not that I care or anything, but what exactly was Chad saying about me."

Shayne looked a little annoyed. "I don't remember." He stood up too and walked closer to me, his flirty smile reappearing. "Now where were we?"

I sighed. "No where Shayne."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"I'm not interested in a relationship right now. Or whatever else you had in mind." I said quickly, trying and failing to keep some of the sarcasm out of my voice. _I hope this guy gets the message. I can't handle this kind of drama right now. _

"Ouch." He looked away, then back at me. "Is it because of Chad?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Not that thats any of your business, but no. I am fully over Chad Dylan Cooper. I don't want him in my life or anywhere near it. I'm over him, and if I could have it my way, I'd never have to look into those stupid blue eyes again!"

"Woah." Shayne held up his hands. "Clearly I touched a nerve."

I sighed. "Shayne, I have a lot going on in my life. I can't encourage you cause I don't even have time for a relationship right now. But thanks, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you as a friend." I kept my voice as firm as possible.

He looked skeptical, but nodded. "Okay. If you're sure. Hug?"

I laughed. "A _friendly _hug?"

He nodded. "A friendly hug."

"Okay then." I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. I thought I heard a noise coming from the doorway of the dressing room, but when I turned around no one was there...

Chad's POV:

"She was hugging him. That's all. Hugging him." I looked around the table. "That doesn't mean anything right?"

I saw Damien exchange a glance with Nico. Grady just sighed. Matthew rolled his eyes. "Chad, _we_ _don't know if it means anything_. I promise you though, if we could read women's minds, you'd be the first to know."

I put down my fork. "So you think it did mean something? She's only been here a day! Is it even possible that Shayne would think its okay to make a move on m'lady a day after she comes back to the show?"

Grady bit his lip nervously before saying, "Well Chad, technically she isn't your lady anymore. You guys haven't been dating for almost a year and a half now."

I clenched my fists in my lap, trying to control the urge to pound my head against the table. "Yeah, Grady I know. Thank you for stating the obvious."

Nico patted his buddy on the back. "Don't mind him Grady. I don't think he's been getting enough sun...ny."

Grady and Nico started laughing so hard the girls, who were sitting at the other table looked over. "Uh, what's up with them?" Tawni said.

"What _isn't _their problem?" I replied, then stared at Tawni imploring. "Hey Tawni... can I ask you something?"

Tawni looked creeped out. "You can ask me anything as long as you quit looking at me like that. You look like a sick puppy."

"Has Sonny said anything about me? To you or Zora or any of you girls?"

Zora laughed. "Nice try. But even if Sonny had said she was going to kill you in you sleep with a rubber chicken, we wouldn't tell you."

Audrey nodded. "Its like the girl code."

"Girl code? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Nico snorted.

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is it?"

"Uh, unless you follow it, then its the best thing ever. Like, perfect. Uh, I mean, yeah." He stammered awkwardly.

Grace laughed. "That's better."

"But seriously Chad," Bridget added, "no can do."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Sometimes I wonder why I joined this show..."

"Uh, because Mr. Condor finally woke up and realized the plot of Mackenzie Falls was L-A-M-E so they had to take it off the air while they re-wrote the entire next season? I think that was part of it." Zora chuckled as I glared at her.

"Well, yeah... there was that." Suddenly I sat bolt upright as Shayne walked into the room.

Matthew noticed. "Dude, play it cool, okay? There's no point in-"

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN SONNY'S DRESSING ROOM?" I yelled without thinking.

"-doing that." Matthew sighed and sat back.

Shayne stopped. "Uh... I was looking for Tawni." He turned toward her. "You forgot your script in the prop house."

"Thanks." Tawni took it from him.

"If you were looking for Tawni, why did you feel the need to get all huggy with my ex?" I said, fighting the urge to strangle him.

He shrugged. "She sang me a song. We talked. We hugged. End of story."

I clutched the table, feeling my anger being replaced by sadness. "She sang for you?" He nodded. I slumped back in my seat. "Great. She's been here a day and we haven't spoken but you and her have talked, hugged and done a duet. Fantastic."

"It was pretty fantastic." Shayne grinned.

"Shayne!" Damien slapped his shoulder. "Not helping!"

Tawni sighed. "Chad, if you want to change things, just talk to her. Its as simple as that."

"I-I can't." I stuttered. My cheeks burned as I remembered what had happened when I first saw her. "I don't think it would go well."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Well, I've gotten about as much drama as I can take. Come on Audrey, Bridget, I'll help you run lines."

"Okay." All three girls walked to trash cans to dump their trash and then walked towards the door. As they passed Nico put on his flirtiest expression. "Hey Grace! How about a little sugar before you go?"

"Yeah. Not gonna happen. Didn't the burger you just ate have onions on it?" She laughed and walked out.

Zora chuckled. "Man, Nico. Grace is perfect for you."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

A text message beep suddenly rang through the air. Grady grabbed for his phone as a smile broke out over his face. "It's Mel!" He opened the message and read it, his grin slowly getting bigger. "She wants to meet at the Patio tonight and hang out." He sighed. "I seriously cannot believe how much I lucked out. She's my girlfriend now. It's so awesome."

Nico smiled. "Hey man, do you think you guys would mind some company? Grace and I were going to go out tonight. It'd be fun to hang with you and Mel."

"Sure thing." Grady smiled. "Anyone else want to join us?"

Tawni sighed wistfully. "I wish I could go out tonight."

Damien stared at her. "Why don't you?"

She bit her lip. "I'm in between boyfriends right now. And I hate going out with random guys I don't know. It's so awkward."

Damien took a deep breath. "You could go with me. I mean-if you want to. At least you know me, right?"

"Really? Oh, wow, that'd be perfect Damien!" Tawni smiled, and it almost looked like she was blushing. I quirked an eyebrow. _What's that about? Tawni and Damien? _

"Great." Damien grinned. "See you soon then, I got to go get some stuff done if I'm going out tonight."

"Okay!" Tawni bubbled. As he left the room Zora rolled her eyes at her. "What?"

"Subtle, Tawni. Reeeeal subtle." Zora laughed. "Although I'm happy for you. I mean, you've had a crush on him basically since he came to the show."

Tawni giggled. "Yeah."

Matthew coughed. "Wow, its like there's something in the water here. I guess we three will just be on our own tonight. You want to grab a pizza?"

"Matthew?" An extra and a dancer on the show walked up to our table, looking a little scared. When he turned toward her, she blushed. "Hey... I'm Cecelia. Most people call me Celia though. I don't know if you even know who I am-"

"I know." Matthew said quickly, then cleared his throat. I almost laughed at his awkwardness, but then remembered my puking episode yesterday and decided I was in no position to laugh at anybody. ]

She smiled and continued. "Well, I was wondering if you'd want to go out tonight. Like on a date. With me."

He smiled. "Sure! That sounds great."

"Really? Awesome! There's just one thing.." she nodded to a girl sitting at a table by herself in the corner of the room, "I have a friend. Rebecca Douglas. She's an extra on the show too, and I'd love for her to come along as well if thats okay. Do you think you could ask one of your friends to take her?"

Matthew looked at Shayne. He shook his head. "Sorry Matt. I've got plans."

"Oh..." Matthew sighed. "Well, Celia, I'm sorry but-"

"I'll take her." _Woah Cooper. Did those words just come out of _your _mouth? _

"Um, Chad, are you sure? With everthing that's been going on lately?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I tried to smile confidently. "I need to get out sometimes right?"

"Okay, if you're sure." Matthew turned back to Celia and grinned. "We'll see you this evening then. A bunch of my friends are going to The Patio tonight. Would you want to join them?"

Celia smiled. "Sure! I'll tell Becca. She'll be so excited."

After she walked away, Shayne nudged Matt hard. "Wow, man. Apparently you're pretty popular with the ladies."

"Uh, Shayne? Remember we're not twelve, okay?" Matthew smiled. "I'm just happy to be going out with someone like her. She's quiet, but she's also sweet, kind, and funny. I've been watching her for awhile and she seems great."

"Not to mention she's smoking hot!" Shayne laughed as Matt and I rolled our eyes.

I laughed as Matthew blushed. "It's kinda true though. You really scored on that one."

Matthew laughed. "Okay, I'm leaving now before you guys torture me more. Thanks Chad, I owe you."

"I'm going to go shoot some hoops before we get called back to rehearsal. See ya later dude." Shayne and Matthew walked out.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. _I am not trying to make Sonny jealous. I am not trying to make Sonny jealous. That'd be immature and stupid and just idiotic. Right? Right. I am not trying to make Sonny jealous. I am not trying to make Sonny jealous. No really, I'm not. Really! Okay, maybe a little..._

"Chad?" I looked up and froze.  
>"Sonny?" I don't know quite what happened next, but the next second I was on the floor.<p>

"Oh my gosh Chad! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine." I stood up quickly and brushed myself off, trying to get back what shreds of dignity I had left. "I, uh, dropped a penny."

Sonny raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Right. Whatever you say. The point is... we need to talk."

_AN: Did you like it? If you just thought yes, nodded, or thought "Eh, it might get better eventually" please review! Thanks so much for the support! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: I know. I haven't updated in a loooong time. I basically didn't update for so long, I figured I might as well put it off until after the holidays. I've been really busy, but now I'm back with a brand new chapter. I hope you like it, cause I had SO much fun writing it. Warning: I switch POV's a lot in the first part of this chapter cause I wanted to get both of their reactions to the same things. Just letting you know. I also want to thank LilRockerStar, , Sophbells, DannySamLover20, and swac twilight14 for reviewing, you guys are awesome! Please continue to review if you like this story. Enjoy chapter five! _

"We need to talk." I said, my stomach twisting even as the words came out of my mouth. _Please tell me I know what I'm doing. _

"We do?" Chad looked totally shocked. Then he cleared his throat. "I mean, sure, great, lets talk." He pulled out a chair for me, but I shook my head.

"Not here. We need to talk... in private."

Chad stared at me for a second. "I-I, um, is everything okay Sonny?"

I bit my lip. "I hope so. Or at least, I hope it's going to be." When he still didn't move, I sighed and grabbed his sleeve, trying to ignore the chill that raced down my spine as we touched. "Come on."

Chad's POV:

As Sonny led me out of the cafeteria, I felt my heart race. In fact it was thumping so loudly, I was sure she must be able to hear it. A thousand questions were in my head and on the tip of my tongue, but I decided to hold them back until Sonny had said her peace. It looked like she had something important to say. She led me into her and Tawni's dressing room and immediately released my arm. I stood there awkwardly, while she walked over to her nightstand table and picked something up. It looked like a piece of paper.

Sonny's POV:

I took a deep breath as I lifted the piece of paper, trying to hide the fact that my hands were shaking.

"Chad," I turned to him, and tried to ignore how adorable he looked when he was confused, "I want you to have this." I pushed the paper into his hands. "It's a song I wrote for you after we broke up. It's called _World of Chances_. I want you to take it."

He looked at me, looking confused and a little disappointed. "Sonny, why-?"

"Because, it can't go on like this Chad." My voice cracked a little, so I took another deep breath to steady it. "I don't want us to be awkward the whole time I'm here. I want us to be able to work together like two professional adults. I don't have the energy to keep avoiding you or wonder what you're thinking constantly."

Chad raised an eyebrow at me, a brief grin forming on his face. "You've been thinking about me Sonny?"

"Not the point." I said quickly, trying to hide my embarrassment. "I just mean, it can't go on like this. So please take the song. Cause I don't want to be reminded of why I broke up with you anymore. Let's just let it go and try to be friends for the rest of this week." I swallowed hard. "Are you okay with that?"

Chad's POV:

"Are you okay with that?" She searched my face and looked in my eyes, as if trying to read into my facial expression what I thought of her little speech.

_Friends? Us, be friends? We were never friends, Sonny. We were enemies, and then we were boyfriend and girlfriend. But friends? Never. _

"Friends sounds... perfect." I said carefully, folding the paper and slipping it into my pocket. _She's moved on Chad. If you really love her, you'll let that happen. _I tensed as my subconscious reminded me once again of what I had never truly said to Sonny. Love. But I did love her and now I could never have her.

"Great." Sonny's voice sounded somewhere between relieved and sad. "I'm glad you see it that way too."

"Yeah." I kept my gaze fixed on my shoes. I was afraid if I looked up she would be able to see how much I was _not _okay with this. "Well, I should probably get going." I turned to go to the door, but something turned me back around. "Wait, Sonny, I-I want you to know..."

"Yeah, Chad?" Her brown eyes stared into my blue ones, and suddenly I found myself losing my place.

"I-I just wanted to thank you. For saying all that. And I'm glad we don't have to be awkward around eachother anymore."

"Oh." She dropped her eyes. I cringed at my own cowardice. _Nice one Cooper. _"You're welcome." Before I knew what was happening she walked towards me and opened her arms for a hug. I opened mine as well, but just as I was about to embrace her, the door to the dressing room flew open and hit me in the back. Before I could stop myself, I stumbled forward, slamming into her and knocking her to the ground.

Sonny's POV:

"Chad, wha-?" I blinked, dazed. All I could see were flashes of light. _Is this what they mean when they say "I saw stars"? How hard did I hit my head? _It took me a second to realize that the flashes of light were coming from cameras. _Cameras? _I looked straight up and saw Chad's face, close to mine, frozen with surprise. And then I realized... Chad was on top of me. And the cameras were held by a dozen reporters standing in the doorway.

"Get off of me!" I said quickly, and pushed him as hard as I could. He scrambled up, and offered me his hand, but I pushed it away.

"Sonny! Over here! Chad can we get a comment from you about Channy? Is this what it looks like? Can you give us some details?" The voices of the reporters and the flashing of the cameras made me cringe. I stared up at Chad as he looked from me to the reporters, his cheeks pale.

"Chad... how could you?" I blinked hard as tears started to form in my eyes. "I thought... I thought... how could you!" I swiped at my tears with one hand, jumped to my feet and pushed through the doorway, ignoring the reporters questions, and the flashes of the camera's. _I am never going to be able to show my face in public again once those pictures get out! I can't believe Chad would pull a trick that low... _I thought, as I blindly stumbled through the hallways, trying to put distance between me and my humiliation. Finally reaching the door, I ran outside and leaned against the side of the building, sobbing.

"Sonny? Sonny! Are you okay?" I felt a hand on my arm and looked up, terrified I'd see Chad there. But it wasn't Chad. It was Shayne.

"Shayne?" I blinked, and wiped some of my tears away again, feeling my mascara smear underneath my fingers. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you running through the hallways and thought you might be sick. Are you okay? Do I need to call someone for you?" He leaned down slightly to look in my eyes, and I felt a warm rush of gratitude at his concern.  
>"No, I'm f-fine." I hiccuped softly, then shivered.<p>

"Are you cold? What happened? Who do I need to beat up?" As he talked, Shayne slipped the jacket off his shoulders and handed it to me.  
>I smiled at little. "Thanks. And... well, I might as well tell you. You'll know in a few hours anyway." I sighed and brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "Chad... he... well he set me up. H-he was mad at me for breaking up with him I guess... anyway... he made it look like we were, um..." I trailed off, a little uncomfortable. "Well I guess you could say he just knocked me to the ground and then.. there were these reporters..." I trailed off, feeling my throat tighten.<p>

"He knocked you to the ground?" Shayne moved closer to me and slid his arm around my shoulders. "I'm going to kill him."

I laughed. Normally, I would have felt a little bit nervous about him putting his arm around me, but for once I was so shook up I didn't even care. It was actually kind of nice after all Chad had put me through. "It's okay. I don't even care about that. It's just that... he made it look like something was going that most definitely _isn't_. And I guess... I guess I just don't believe he would go that far to get me back."

I shivered again and closed my eyes. "He didn't used to be that way."

Shayne nodded than squeezed my shoulders. "You're really brave, you know that Sonny?"

"What?" I opened my eyes and stared at him.

He nodded again. "I mean it. Coming back here, facing your ex, stepping back into the public eye, that's gutsy stuff. And I know, if you were brave enough to do all those things, you're brave enough to stick around here and show what you're made of by not letting those pictures get you down. You know what really happened and your fans won't desert you over a thing like this."

I looked up at him. "How did you know I was thinking of quitting?"

He shrugged, then smiled. "Who wouldn't at least think about it right? But I know you're strong Sonny. You can handle this."

I sighed. "Well, I guess so. Thanks Shayne, I really, truly, appreciate everything you've done."

"What? I haven't even done anything yet. But I'm going to try." Shayne squeezed my shoulders again, then released me. "Go back inside and don't worry about those pictures unless you see them online. And if Cooper gives you any trouble, you just phone me, okay?"

"Okay." I smiled as he started to move away. "Oh wait! I don't have your phone number."

"Oh, you don't? Okay well here it is." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with the number already written on it and winked.

I laughed. "I see you had that ready."

He shrugged again. "Just in case. See ya Sonny."

"See you Shayne." As he walked off to his car, I took a deep breath, turned and faced the door again. I would get through this. Somehow...

Chad's POV:

_What just happened? What just happened? What. The. Heck. Just. Happened? _I stared in my dressing room mirror, reliving over and over the words Sonny had said. _"How could you Chad!" _Did she really think _I _was capable of hurting her like that? My heart sank as I thought of what she must be going through right now. _If I ever get my hands on the person who really sent those reporters here I'm going to- _

"Chad!" I turned around to see Tawni in the doorway, looking seriously angry. "Chad, you better call your bodyguards, cause I am about to inflict some major damage on your pretty little movie star face!"

I threw up my hands as she stepped forward threateningly. "It wasn't me! I had nothing to do with it!" It probably wasn't very manly the way my voice cracked, but an angry Tawni had about the same intimidation factor as a nuclear bomb being tossed at your face. Scary stuff.

"Yeah, right!" She stopped just inches of my face and hissed, "You have done some pretty stupid stuff in your day, Cooper, but this is lower than low! How could you do that to Sonny? I thought you loved her you idiot!"

"I do!" I yelled before I could think about it, then blushed. "I mean, I, uh, um..."

"Oh get over yourself!" Tawni rolled her eyes. "We all know it."

I sighed. "I didn't do it, Tawni. I know it looks bad, but I could never do that to Sonny. I would never hurt her like that."

Tawni gave me a look that made me want to crawl in a hole and die there. "Chad, that trick has your name all over it. I can't believe you would pull something like that _and then lie about it_. Even I didn't expect that of you, Chad, and believe me, my expectations of you are not high!"

"Hey!"

Tawni sighed. "Chad, I hope you realize, when you pulled that stunt, you ruined your chances with Sonny. Not just for today, not just for this week, but for forever. She would never be with someone who did that to anyone, let alone her. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I was almost sure you guys would get back together eventually. I thought you weren't really that much of a jerk. I guess I was wrong."

"Tawni, I-I didn't do it. I don't know how to convince you, but I really didn't."

"Oh spare me!" She threw up her hands, exasperated, and turned on her heel to walk out. Suddenly she turned around again and faced me. "I'd just be on your guard after this Cooper. There are a lot of people here who love Sonny to pieces and they'll hate to see her hurt. Just watch out, okay?"

I gulped. "Are you threatening me?"

"No, dummy, I'm just warning you. You might want to be on your guard." She turned and marched out before I could say another word.  
>I sighed and rubbed my forehead. <em>Sonny is never going to forgive me for this... even if it wasn't me.<em> I rubbed my head harder as I felt the beginnings of a migraine start. I always got them when I was under a lot of stress. _I guess I'll go to the cafeteria and get some water to take with some meds, _I thought. _Maybe that will help keep my mind off Sonny and how much I've blown it today too. _

I walked slowly to the cafeteria, and got a bottle of water, then took my medication and chugged down half the bottle. I sat there for awhile, opening and shutting my eyes, trying to decide if I felt bad enough to bail on rehearsal tonight, and later, my date. I sighed as I finally realized I couldn't cancel. That would be like admitting I did it and was hiding out. As I stood up and turned to walk back to my dressing room, I noticed a lot of the people in the room were laughing. _Well, it's good to know everyone _else_ is having a good day. _Then I noticed they weren't just laughing. They were all laughing _at me_.

Just then Rebecca ran up to me, with her phone in her hand. "Chad! I-I think you should see this."

I took the phone from her and stared at the screen. I recognized it as a gossip site I had often seen, Ingrid's Inside Scoops. Everyone read it these days. Then I noticed the latest entry. It read, in big headlines, _**Chad Dylan Cooper's Private Online Journal EXPOSED! **_I gasped.

"I checked it out." Rebecca gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm pretty sure it's the real deal."

I clicked on the link and stared disbelieving at my private thoughts and feelings, now on the internet for everyone to see. "This...this can't be happening." I sat down hard in my chair. _I've been journaling in that thing since Sonny and I were dating! There's probably tons of juicy stuff in there... but it's not stuff I want anyone to know! _I thought back to the stuff it covered. My hidden feelings for Sonny. How I had asked her out. My nerves about our first date. My total humiliation _after _our first date. Our many dates afterwards. Our break ups. My disbelief after she left. A couple of dreams I had had about her. There was even a VERY recent entry about Sonny coming back to So Random. I closed my eyes. _This. Cannot. Be. Happening. _

Rebecca patted my shoulder, obviously a little awkward. "Chad... do you have any idea who would do something like this to you?"

I thought of Tawni's warning/threat to me earlier. Then I shook my head. Tawni hadn't known anything about my journal. The only person I had ever told about it was... _Sonny_.

_AN: DUN DUN DUN! (Yes, that's my imitation of dramatic music.) If you haven't picked up on this already, this story is going to have a little bit of a mystery element, which is making this really fun to write. There is going to be SO much drama, (with some definite Channy along the way) but I'll try hard not to make it sound like a bad episode of Mackenzie Falls! I know so far this story has been a little light on the Channy action, but don't worry, that will be coming soon. Thanks for reading! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Okay, here it is! The newest chapter of Just Enemies. I hope you enjoy this, cause I had a lot of fun writing it! Thanks to: Forever., peaceluvar, LilRockerStar, , channyfan83, FallForYouGirl19, DannySamLover20, IWrite34, and immehween for reviewing! Thanks so much! I'm so flattered by all the compliments and encouragement I've gotten for this story, you guys are awesome. Special thank you to FallForYouGirl19, for not only reviewing on Chapter 5, but also reviewing on every chapter up till then. Thanks! I enjoyed reading your reviews, they made me laugh. Yes, hopefully Mel will be in this story if I can fit her in, but there's lots of characters in here, so you never know. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoy chapter six! _

Sonny's POV:

I stared at Chad's angry face. "Chad, I can't believe you! You pull that huge prank on me, and then have the nerve to come in here and accuse me of stealing your journal?"

"Oh, yeah, right, Sonny, pull the innocent girl from Wisconsin act! You were the only person I told about that journal! It _must _have been you who took it!" Chad's voice escalated.

"Well, for one, I side with Sonny!" Tawni stood up from where she and the rest of the cast members had been awkwardly sitting in the prop house and looped her arm through mine. "Sonny would _never _do anything like that Chad!"

"Yeah, well, maybe she didn't do it. But you might have for her!" His eyes narrowed.  
>My cheeks burned. "Chad Dylan Cooper! I'll have you know none of my friends or me would ever steal someone's personal private property like that. I didn't even remember you had a journal!"<p>

Chad turned to face the rest of the cast members. "Alright guys, so someone pulls a prank on Sonny and she blames me-"

"Ha!" Tawni yelled, but Chad just glared at her and continued.

"-she blames me and gets mad and then my journal just _magically _disappears from its hiding place, which only Sonny knew about, and ends up on online. That doesn't sound even a _little_ suspicious to you guys?"

I stared at them, wondering what they'd say. _It does sound kind of bad, _I reminded myself, _I mean, if I didn't know I didn't take the journal, I might be convinced myself. _Then I felt my anger well up within me again. _I can't believe Chad is trying to get them to turn against me! He _wants _me to leave. _And suddenly I realized I couldn't leave now. Not just wouldn't. I couldn't let Chad beat me again. This time, I wasn't going to back down. This time it was war.

Chad raised his eyebrows. "Come on guys, you all know me! Would I really play a trick like that on Sonny and then lie about it?"

"Yes!" Tawni said, but Chad just ignored her this time. I tightened my grip on her arm.

"Well, I believe Chad." Rebecca walked over and stood next to him. "Come on you guys. Except for Nico, Grady, and Tawni, we've never even met Sonny before. Why should we be loyal to her and not the guy we've been friends with since we came on the show." She took Chad's hand, and in spite of myself, I felt my heart plunge to my toes. _He's not worth getting jealous over, _I reminded myself.

The rest of the cast looked at eachother. Then slowly Nico stood up and looked at me. "Not too long ago, Sonny was accused of stealing the character of Sicky Vicky and later, a necklace and my old coin. I believed everybody else back then when they said Sonny was guilty. It seemed like the only obvious answer. But it turned out to be a trick and Sonny was cleared. She forgave me, but I always felt bad about not trusting her from the beginning. Well, this time, I'm not going to make that mistake again." He smiled and walked over to me. "I'm on Sonny's side."

I blinked back the tears that had formed in my eyes. "Thank you Nico."

"Me too!" Grady stood up. "I've known Sonny for three years now, and I know she would never _ever _ do something like that to anybody, no matter how much they hurt her." He glared at Chad then went to stand next to Nico. "I'm with Sonny too."

I looked over at the only remaining original Random in the group. "Zora?"

Zora smiled at me. "Of course I'm on your side Sonny! Do you even have to ask?" She came to stand beside me and took my other arm. "I believe you."

My heart warmed but the glow of gratitude abruptly chilled as Rebecca scoffed, "Well that's no surprise. They're the original Randoms. They probably helped her pull it off. But I know you guys aren't like that." She turned to face the rest of the cast. "Don't any of you believe Chad?"

"I-I do." Celia stood up, her face bright red. She looked at me, almost apologetically, but Rebecca quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards her.

"See? Celia believes in Chad! I can't believe the rest of you! I thought you were Chad's friends!"

"We are but-" Matthew paused and glanced at Celia, who was staring down at her shoes. Then he looked at me. "Listen, Sonny, I've known Chad for about a year. As far as I can tell he's a pretty decent guy. So, forgive me for doing this but-" he stood up and went to stand by Chad, "I'm with Chad on this one."

I nodded, trying hard not to let the tears fall. "Yeah, it's okay, Matthew. I understand." And I really did. But that didn't stop it from hurting that he thought that I might be that kind of person.

Rebecca looked at Grace, Bridget, Audrey and Damien, who all shifted awkwardly under her gaze. "Well?"

Grace stood up first. "I've known Chad for just as long as any of you guys. But I've also known Nico for that same amount of time... and if he's sticking by Sonny, then I think I should too. I trust his judgment." She went to stand next to Nico and took his hand. He smiled at her.

"Damien?" Chad looked at him, his eyes sad. "Don't you believe me?" I felt my stomach sink, and the urge to cry came on full force. _I hate this. This isn't right. We shouldn't be dividing like this. _But then I looked at Chad and the group of people surrounding him. _It's too late. The lines have been drawn._

Damien looked back at Chad for a moment. Then he looked at Tawni. Finally, he sighed and shut his eyes for a second. Then he stood up and walked over to stand next to Chad. "Okay, Chad, I believe you."

Chad smiled, then turned to Bridget and Audrey. "Well girls?"

"This isn't right!" I said quickly. Everyone turned to stare at me. "They don't even know me and this isn't their fight. They shouldn't have to choose sides like this! It's not fair."

"What's the matter Sonny? Afraid they'll choose to be on Chad's side and not yours?" Rebecca stared at me until I was forced to look away. "It's a matter of principle."

"Fine." I sighed. "Whatever."

"Well I-," Audrey stopped and blushed, then continued. "I'm, well, I'm with Chad."

Zora gasped. "Audrey!"

"What, Zora? It's my decision! You can't always tell me what to do you know!" Audrey quickly jumped up and stood next to Chad. Zora looked surprised, then hurt.

Everyone turned to look at Bridget. She gulped. "Well... I choose Sonny." Her voice came out very quiet.

"What?" Chad and Rebecca gasped together.

"You know you don't have to Bridget." I said quickly. "Just choose whoever you think is telling the truth. Whatever you think is right. I promise it won't hurt me." _Actually, that's probably a lie, but I just __can't stand that guilty look on her face. _

She smiled and nodded. "I know. But I still believe you." She came over to stand beside me. I felt the tension grow as the two sides of the cast stared at one another.

"Well, what now?" Tawni asked. Her voice was ice cold, and she was glaring at Damien. _If looks could kill, Damien would be long gone, _I couldn't help thinking. I felt the sinking feeling in my stomach again.

"What's going on here?" Marshall walked into the room. "You look like you're about to kill eachother."

"Not a bad idea." I said, glaring at Chad.

"What?" Marshall stared back and forth between us. "Maybe someone should tell me what's going on."

"Sonny!" Shayne ran in, breathing heavily. "I found the reporters and I bought back the pictures from them. All the film is in these canisters here. I figured you'd want to destroy it yourself." He stopped and looked around. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Shayne!" I grabbed the film from him and gave him a huge hug before I thought about what I was doing. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I can't tell you what this means to me." I thought I saw Chad glowering at us from the corner of my eye, but I ignored him. "I can't even imagine what they must have made you pay for these pictures."

"Oh, it was nothing. I'm glad to be able to do it for you." Shayne smiled and grabbed my hand. "Though I do know one way you could repay me... if you're interested."

I laughed and flipped my hair over one shoulder, very aware of Chad's eyes boring into the back of my head. "I'm very much interested!" _Eat your heart out Cooper! _

"Have dinner with me. Tonight. At the Patio."

I smiled flirtatiously up at him. "Oh is that all? I was expecting something a little more... challenging."

Chad made a little noise behind me that sounded like a combination of an annoyed cough and an indignant 'Huh!'.

Shayne ignored him. "That can be arranged too."

I giggled and leaned forward to peck him on the cheek. "See you at dinner tonight Shayne."

"Oh, well, I guess we'll see you there then." Chad's voice interrupted me from behind. I turned to see him glaring at me, his arm around Rebecca's shoulders. "That's where Rebecca and I were planning on going this evening. For our _**date**_."

"Oh really?" I said, quickly drawing Shayne's arms around my waist. "Isn't that convenient."

"Uh, well, actually," Grady cleared his throat, "we were all planning to go. But now..."

"Of course we'll all still go Grady!" I interjected quickly. "There's no reason why you, me, Shayne, Tawni, Nico, Grace, Zora, and Bridget can't all have a fun evening together. I even have a friend who could be Tawni's date!"

Tawni glanced at me, startled. I raised my eyebrows at her and nodded at Damien. She caught on. "Oh, yes! That would be perfect! I'm sure he'll be better company than the boy who was going to take me." She stared at Damien, and he rolled his eyes in response.

"Well, luckily, I have a friend who can be Damien's date for the night as well!" Chad said quickly. "She's gorgeous. A redhead. Not like these demanding fashionista blondes who are all over the place in Hollywood."

Tawni gasped but I just smiled. "Well, you would know about being a demanding blonde fashionista, wouldn't you Chad? Oh wait, I forgot, the blonde wasn't natural. But the rest still fits pretty well, wouldn't you say?" I gave my best fake smile as Chad turned bright red.

"Come on Chad, we don't have to stand here and take this." Rebecca pulled on his arm. "We'll see you all at The Patio, I'm sure."

"But of course." I said icily as she walked away with Chad and the others. Once they were out of hearing distant I sat down hard in one of the chairs. "I can't believe this is happening."

Marshall threw his hands up in the air and sighed dramatically. "Seriously! Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

As the others explained to him I sighed and shut my eyes. _This is all my fault. Everything was going fine until I came back. Then everything just blew up in my face. Maybe I should just go home. _I opened my eyes and shook my head. _No. Don't let him psych you out Sonny. Stand up for yourself. Chad will get caught up in his own tricks sooner or later and he'll get found out. You just have to stick around till that happens. _Tawni sat down beside me and sighed. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah... I guess as well as can be expected." I smiled at her. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. But if you ever tell anyone I did that I'll never speak to you again!" I laughed and she grinned. "Why are we sitting here talking anyway! We've got to find an amazing guy to be my date tonight, and we've got to get you all prettied up for your date with Shayne tonight."  
>I groaned, but let her pull me to my feet. <em>Oh come on Sonny. Lighten up. Sure, things aren't going so great right now, but it's just a dinner. How bad could it be? <em>

Chad's POV:

_How bad could it be? Is that really what I was saying to myself only a few hours ago? _I looked around at my fellow cast members of So Random. I'd never seen any of them look this bummed. Then again, I'd never seen any of them get in a huge food fight and trash a restaurant before. _Yep, this is a night just full of new experiences. And there's even more to come! Like, what's Mr. Condor going to say when he walks in and sees all sitting here looking like we just got attacked by an All You Can Eat Buffet? _I looked across the room to see Sonny staring at me. Immediately she looked away. I stared at her for a second, then looked away too. _How is it possible for a girl to be so beautiful with a piece of lettuce behind her ear and whipped cream in her hair? _

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, smearing the mashed potatoes that clung there. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. We had just been sitting there, eating on opposite sides of the restaurant, minding our own business, when it happened. Damien and I had taken turns glaring at Shayne and Chris, Tawni's date, when all of a sudden, Tawni said something to Chris and pointed to Damien. Chris stood up and walked over to him. He said something to him, and Damien didn't seem to take it too well. The next second Chris had a bowl of soup covering his face, and then total chaos had broken out. When the cops finally arrived ten minutes later, there we all were, in the middle of it, covered in food and looking stupid.

The cops had given us all warnings and driven us back to the studio, where Marshall took one look at us and shoved us into Mr. Condor's office. We'd been sitting here for fifteen minutes, and the silence had gone from awkward to painful.

"Uh, so, how about that roast beef? Pretty good, huh?" _Wow, Chad, that was so amazingly conversational. Not. _

Everyone gave me a look and Grace said, "I wouldn't know. I didn't actually get a chance to taste it, but I am **wearing **it!"

"Yes, I can see that." We all gasped and turned as Mr. Condor walked into the room. He looked at all of us and wrinkled his nose. "You all smell like a five course meal."

"Mr. Condor," Sonny said quickly, "we can explain!"

"There's nothing to explain Sonny." Mr. Condor walked to his desk and sat down. He opened his laptop and typed something in. He turned it so we could see the screen and pointed. "What do you see there Sonny?"

Sonny peered at the screen, then blushed. "Uh, articles?"

"Articles about?"

"Um, So Random?" Sonny said nervously.

"So Random doing what specifically?" Mr. Condor said, his voice growing more menacing.

"Uh, fighting with eachother at the Patio." Sonny said quietly.

"Exactly." He turned the laptop back around and shut it. "This story is everywhere. There are photos, video footage, sound bites, whatever you can think of, they've probably got it. There's no way we can pretend this didn't happen or write it off as unimportant. This could mean massive negative publicity for So Random and Condor Studios. Parents want their children's programs to be filled with funny, helpful teens who donate to charities, not a bunch of angsty freaks covered in mashed potatoes and salad. If this behavior continues, I will be forced to cancel So Random. Permanently." He sat back as we all stared at the floor, as if letting his words sink in. "You've cut it too close this time kids. You're going to have to do some serious reconstruction to get you back in the public's good graces. Are you willing to do that?"

"Yes sir." We all murmured.

"Good. For starters, we've got to convince everyone what happened tonight was just a little misunderstanding. 'Every teenager makes mistakes. Even teenagers who happen to be celebrities.' That'll be our angle. Whatever differences you may have, they have got to be set aside here and now, for the good of the show. Sonny and Chad, the gossip sites are gobbling this up. They say it proves you two can't work together professionally without your personal lives getting in the way."

"Well, they'd be right." I muttered.

Mr. Condor raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Cooper, if you have something to say, I'd prefer you say it to all of us or remain silent."

"What? Oh, no, I don't have anything to say." I said, ducking my head and feeling like I was an eight year old being sent to the principal's office for talking in class.

"Fine then. Sonny, I understand this week you are the musical guest. With that in mind, I am prepared to lengthen the show time by a few minutes to allow you to perform two songs." Sonny looked confused. Mr. Condor continued slowly. "One you will sing alone as planned. And the other... you will sing as a duet with Chad."

"WHAT?" Sonny and I said together.

"Mr. Condor!" Sonny said, talking very quickly and nervously. "I can't sing with Chad. He's-he's-"

"He's what, Miss Munroe?" Mr. Condor stared her down.

"He's... I-I..." Sonny looked around, desperate for help.

"I have to agree with Sonny on this one." I said quickly. "A duet doesn't seem like a very good idea."

Mr. Condor stared at both of us. Then he stood up. "Listen kids, this is it. Either you make the sacrifices to keep up your good image and the show continues, or you don't and it doesn't. It's your choice. I'll give you thirty seconds to think it over. Then if after that thirty seconds, you really don't think you can manage to pull it together long enough to perform one song together, then that's it. And all of you are out of a job."

"Mr. Condor," Matthew said suddenly, "don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"This business _is _extreme. Thirty seconds." Mr. Condor boomed. "One, two, three..."

I looked over at Sonny but she was staring at the ground. I looked around. Everyone was looking back and forth between me and Sonny. I saw Rebecca mouth _please_.

"Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen..." Mr. Condor continued.

"Sonny..." I trailed off. I didn't even know where to begin.

She lifted her eyes and stared openly at me for the first time since she had gotten here. Her eyes seemed to pierce through my skin and see straight through to my heart. For a minute I was sure she knew how I felt about her. Sure she knew how my heart was racing, how I longed to get up and stop all of this crap and just throw my arms around her and kiss her. Sure she knew how many times I'd dreamed she came back to me and told me she was mine. Sure she knew about how I had cried the day she left, standing there in the empty parking lot sobbing like a little girl, my tears dampening the pavement where she had been standing moments before. Then I saw her nod.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!" Mr. Condor finished. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes." Sonny took a deep breath. "I don't like it, but if Chad agrees... I'll do it."

I sighed. "I agree."

A gasp of relief rose up from everyone in the room as they realized their jobs were safe for the time being.  
>Mr. Condor nodded. "Good. You can go now."<p>

As we all stumbled out of his office I saw Marshall standing there. His shirt and jacket were soaked in sweat but he smiled. "I was listening at the door. Looks like we're still a team." He hesitated for a minute, then continued. "Let's try to keep it that way shall we?" He looked sternly at all of us for a second then smiled again. "Go home and get a good night's sleep tonight kids. Rehearsals start tomorrow!"

_AN: So what'd you think? Are Sonny and Chad getting in over their heads? Will everybody stop fighting long enough to put on the show? Will Sonny leave and go back to Wisconsin? And most importantly, will Channy have a chance? Hope you enjoyed this! Please review if you liked what you read! Thanks for reading! _

**_Random Little Activity Just Cause I'm Interested In What Your Answers Will Be!: _**

**_What was your favorite part of this chapter? Review and tell me! Put in a certain quote, moment, or section that you particularly liked. I'd like to get your reactions to specific parts of the story. It'll help me out. Thanks! :)_**


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sooo I have to say, I kind of LOVED writing this chapter. So, I hope you like reading it! I think this was legitimately been my favorite chapter to write in this story so far. __If you like it, please review! :) Speaking of which, thanks to you who did review for the last chapter: immehween, KellyTheLovatic, Bronco'sFan15 (thanks for your awesome song idea by the way! I'm definitely considering it!), usuihentai727, and Mahomie4Ever__55. Special shout out to KellyTheLovatic for reviewing on all the chapters up to and including six. I love reading all of your comments and thoughts. I read every single one. Also, thanks to all the people who favorite or even just put my story on story alert, knowing people are reading my stories and are interested them is awesome. Anyway, on to disclaimers! I don't own Sonny with a Chance or So Random, and I don't own the song in this chapter, it is The Only Exception by Paramore. If you haven't heard it, I highly reccomend you check it out. Enjoy chapter seven!_

Sonny's POV:

"Okay, let's take five!" I said, trying not to let my voice sound as angry as I felt. So far, rehearsal had _not _been going well. Everyone nodded half-heartedly, all heading to opposite sides of the room. I sighed as I walked to the corner where my bag and water bottle were. Uncapping the bottle, I took a drink and looked around. Nico and Grady sat on the floor, backs to the wall, talking quietly. Grace sat next to Nico, but her eyes were closed. As I watched she leaned her head on Nico's shoulder and sighed. He barely seemed to notice.

My eyes traveled to Bridget and Zora who sat in another corner, whispering to eachother and staring hard at Audrey, who sat beside Rebecca and Chad. She seemed to be hanging on Chad's every word. As he talked, she put a hand on his arm, and I watched him shift uncomfortably. Rebecca sent her a death glare and Audrey shrank back, quickly removing her hand. Chad rubbed his forehead and Rebecca whispered something in his ear, looking almost as enamored as Audrey. I rolled my eyes, then noticed Chad looking back at me. I stared back at him, not sure what to do. For a second, I almost thought he was going to smile at me. Then he scowled, and I rolled my eyes again and looked away. _So much for that. _

I looked over at Damien, to see him gazing longingly at Tawni. Tawni didn't seem to notice though, she was too busy downing aspirin and refreshing her Cocoa-Moco-Cocoa after each gulp. I sighed. It seemed like everyone was having a bad day today. Tension was still running high and although we all knew better than to make a scene after last night's food fight fiasco, unsaid words swirled just underneath the awkward silence we had created.

I heard a giggle from one side of the room, and turned, surprised. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Matthew and Celia standing there. Matthew was grinning, but looked slightly shy at the same time, and Celia was smiling and blushing beet red. _They are so cute together. I wish Chad and I could be like that again. Woah, what? _I shook my head, trying to clear it. _You and Chad aren't meant to be together girly. Get that in your head! After what happened with the reporters and the journal, how would you ever be able to trust him again? I mean, hypothetically, if you still liked him, WHICH YOU DON'T SONNY ALLISON MUNROE! _

"Alright guys!" I said quickly, to get my mind off of Chad. "Should we try to run the Harry Potter sketch again?"

"Sure!" Shayne bounced over, grinning at me. "That's one of my favorite sketches for this show." He winked slyly.

I nodded, trying to ignore his flirting. "Yeah, well, you're really good in this role. I'm excited to be a part of it."

"And I'm excited for you to be my Ginny." He said, putting his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

"Uh, Shayne, let's try to keep it professional for now okay?" Matthew said lightly. Shayne shot him a look, but Matthew nodded toward Chad, who was glaring at him so hard, I'm amazed he didn't melt. Shayne sighed and released me.

"Oh well, time for all that later." He said, quickly kissing me on the cheek. I nodded, and tried to smile, but inside I was miserable. _This will teach you to use people to make other people jealous, _I reminded myself. _It's not Shayne's fault he thinks your interested in him. You practically told him you were! _

"Okay." Tawni said, applying one last coat of Cocoa-Moco-Cocoa. "I'm ready now."

"Alrighty then!" Nico consulted the script. "Sonny, Shayne, you enter from stage left, holding hands."

I took Shayne's hand as we walked toward the middle of the room. Nico continued to feed us our stage directions and the occasional line as we walked through the skit. It was pretty funny in some spots, and I had to hold back my laughter a couple of times. One time when I fumbled over a line, I couldn't help it and burst out laughing. There was a moment of silence, then everyone started laughing along with me. For a second, everything felt right again. We were a team, there was no hidden anger or paranoia. Then the laughter died down, the sketch ended, and the frigid silence enveloped the room once again.

We ran through the sketch a couple more times until we had it down, then moved on to one of my favorite sketches, Possibly Sarcastic Skip. I wasn't in this one, so I sat down on the sidelines and watched as Chad, Nico, Matthew, Bridget and Grace acted out their parts. Chad was the "lead" in this sketch, because he played Skip, and I couldn't believe how well he did. He was funny, and I realized for the first time how good of an actor he really was. Not just because he was Mackenzie of Mackenzie Falls, but because he could really make you believe he was the character he was playing. I laughed quietly as they rehearsed, then re-rehearsed the sketch. Once, while Nico talked briefly with Matthew about reactions to a line in the scene, Chad's gaze flitted over to me. When he saw I was smiling, a brief smile lit his face as well. But the next instant, he was looking at Rebecca, and I wondered if I had just imagined it.

"Sonny?" I looked up to see Shayne standing next to me. "It's our lunch break now. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab something to eat with me."

"Uh, well..." I started, trying to think of a delicate way to say no.

"Sonny? Can I speak to you for a minute?" I looked up to see Marshall standing in the room, beckoning to me.

"Sure!" I shot up, eager for the opportunity to get away from Shayne. "Hey Shayne, just go on without me, okay? I don't know how long this is going to take and I can just get something with Tawni later. But thanks!"

I walked over to Marshall just as he called. "And Chad? Can you come over here too please?" I froze.

Chad walked over slowly, looking wary. "What is it Marshall? I kind of had lunch plans." I glanced over to see Rebecca waiting at the doorway, and my heart sank.

"Well cancel them!" Marshall said shortly. "You're staying here for lunch."

"What?" We both said at the same time.

"That's right." Marshall said. "With this extra song in the show you are going to need some extra practice. So grab a bite in the cafeteria and then head back here to work on your duet."

"Oh, Marshall, do we have to?" I said, then instantly felt like a whiny child when Marshall quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Yes you do, Sonny." He looked back and forth between us, then folded his arms across his chest. "Excuse me for saying so, but its your guys responsibility to make this show a great one. If that involves putting in some extra practice time you should be willing to do that, no questions asked. It's part of your job The job, may I remind you, you both almost lost over this duet in the first place." He paused, as I twisted my hands together nervously. Marshall almost never said things like that to us. After a minute he continued, "Listen Sonny, Chad, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. Mr. Condor is much more cut out for that job than I am. But this is getting serious. A miss-step at this point could mean the end of So Random. I understand it's hard to keep your relationship only professional at this point-" I opened my mouth just as Chad said, "No-" but Marshall held up his hand, stopping us. "I'm not finished yet. I understand things may be complicated right now, but taking time to sort out all your hormone ridden teenage feelings is just not a luxury you two have right now. So take a breath, say a prayer, do some yoga, whatever it takes to get you through the next few days, and then if it's what you want, you two never even have to be in the same room ever again. But if one or both of you want to stay on So Random, I suggest you learn to deal with the other person's existence on this planet. Have a good rehearsal." He turned and walked out.

There was a long moment of very awkward silence until Chad spoke. "Well. That was harsh."

I shrugged. "He's just doing his job."

Chad's voice hardened. "You could call it that. Or you could call it messing in our private lives. Either way."

I sighed, exasperated. "Chad, he's trying to help us. He doesn't want us to get kicked off the show anymore than either of us want to leave."

"Agree to disagree." He said shortly, running his fingers through his hair the way he always did when he was truly annoyed._ It's the only time he'll risk messing up his perfect hair, _I thought, inwardly rolling my eyes.

"Fine." I said back, annoyed at his tone.

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

"Oh great, we're doing it again!" I slapped my forehead, then started walking to the door.  
>"Hey, where are you going?" Chad yelled after me.<p>

"To the cafeteria. For lunch. Where else would I be going?" I turned around, exasperated.

"Oh, right." He said, looking a little sheepish. "I guess I'll go with you then."

"I couldn't stop you." I said sharply, then marched out the door, hating myself for how I acted when he got me mad.

"Listen, Sonny, will you cut it out?" Chad said, as he caught up to me. "When you talk like that you make me feel like I'm the most insignificant, most annoying person on earth."

I stopped abruptly, then stared at him, trying to see if he was sincere. _**I **__have that effect on the great Chad Dylan Cooper? _Other than the time he had thrown up on me during our first date, I had never really entertained the thought that I made Chad nervous. My thoughts flashed back to a couple of days ago, when I first saw him. He had run out of the room looking like he was going to... _but there's no way that had anything to do with me. _Realizing he was still waiting for me to respond I said, "Welll... most annoying I might agree with, but definitely not most insignificant. And I'm sorry if I did make you feel that way. Ever did, actually. No one deserves to feel that way." I saw his eyes register some shock at my civil reply.

"Oh. Well, it's alright." His response was so soft I had to lean forward to catch it.

"Good." I said quietly. I looked up and suddenly realized how close we were.

"Sonny?" He was so near his breath was warm on my face. "I-I, well, you-you were really good. During the rehearsals today."

"Thanks." Before I knew what I was doing my hand was on the collar of his shirt, my fingers resting lightly against his neck. "Your collar is messed up. Let me get it for you."

"Okay." He leaned slightly closer, and I felt my head start to spin. His nearness brought back so many beautiful memories, so many beautiful feelings I had tried to bury in the back of my mind. I tried to concentrate on what I was doing as I pulled the collar up, then folded it neatly back down.

"There." I looked up and realized his face was literally inches from mine.

"That looks great." He said, his gaze never leaving my face.

"You didn't even look at it." I breathed, my head barely registering the fact that I was talking, my heart beating fast. _He's going to kiss me. He really is. Do I want him to kiss me? Yes! I mean, no? I don't know! I wish he would just make up his mind already though! _

"We should, ah, get going." He cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped back. The second the distance between us widened, my head cleared. I felt myself flush as the full awkwardness of what had just happened settled over me. "Yeah we should. Let's go." I walked quickly toward the cafeteria, keeping my back as straight as possible while total humiliation threatened to bring me to tears. _Way to be strong Sonny. Way to take control of the situation. Way to not let him sweep you off your feet._ _Was he really about to kiss me? He was. He must have been. But that's not the scary part. _I inwardly shivered. _I was going to let him. _

Chad's POV:

"So what song should we sing? Any suggestions?" I kept my tone carefully disinterested as I tried to look anywhere but directly at the angelically beautiful girl seated next to me. _This is so ridiculous Cooper. You have Sonny all to yourself for an hour, and in the first five minutes your in the perfect situation to kiss her, and you can't get up enough courage to do it! You are such an idiot! And a wimp. But mostly an idiot! _I checked a sigh as I thought about the starkly awkward last twenty minutes as we ate almost silently in the cafeteria. I had been trying to play it cool, and failing miserably. _She must know how close I was to kissing her. She's probably sitting over there laughing over how caught up I was in her. _I remembered her fingers lightly tickling my neck as she adjusted my collar, the way her beautiful brown eyes stared up into mine, and felt my knees turn into jello just at the thought. _Really, Chad, really? Weak knees? Could you get any more lame at this point? _As I glanced at Sonny, I realized that that weak knees was just the tip of the iceberg. _Come on man, admit it. If Sonny asked you to literally lie on the ground and let her walk all over you, you'd do it. And you'd enjoy it too. _I held back a groan. _You are pathetic, Cooper. _

Sonny's voice snapped me back to the present. "I don't know. You can make practically any song into a duet."

"Right." I said. "So just choose."

She rolled her eyes. "I think its supposed to be a team effort Chad."

"Well, we're sorta on different teams now, aren't we Sonny?" I said, remembering the journal and the feud..

She frowned. "Really, Chad, really? Did you have to bring that up?"

I sighed. "Fine. We should sing one of your songs. There. Problem solved."

She glared at me. "Problem not solved. My songs aren't that good."

"Oh, stop with the bull crap. We both know your songs are a huge hit wherever they're performed." I said, giving a slight nod to one of the last times we had been together before Sonny abruptly left So Random. The time we had bet Mel that she could get a standing ovation at the Patio. I smiled in spite of myself at the memory.

A slight grin appeared on her face for a second, then disappeared. "You certainly learned that lesson, didn't you Chad?"

"Yep." I said, trying to keep my voice natural.

"Fine." Sonny walked over to her bag and pulled out her song notebook. "Let's see what we have here."

"Can I see?" I said, mostly just to tease her. I was surprised when she took the question seriously.

"I guess... but stick to the pages at the front okay?"  
>"Sure." I said, quickly taking the book before she had time to change her mind. Even when we had been dating, Sonny had never let me see the inside of this book. I turned to a page almost randomly and pointed at the first song that caught my eye. "What about this one?"<p>

She glanced at the song I was pointing at. "No, we can't do that one."

"Why not?" I asked, expecting her to avoid the question, but she surprised me again.

"Because that's the song I'm singing alone."

"Oh." I glanced down at the lyrics, written in Sonny's pretty handwriting. "Can I hear it?"

"Uh, I don't think so." Sonny said, reaching for the book. "I don't think you'd like it."

"Try me." When she gave me a look I shrugged. "What's the harm? Come on, please?"

"Fine. But consider yourself warned." She grabbed her guitar off the floor and pulled it on to her lap. "Here we go." She hummed a little to herself, as if reminding herself how the music went, then began to play and sing softly.

_When I was younger, _

_I saw my daddy cry, _

_And curse at the wind, _

_Broke his own heart, _

_And I watched, _

_As he tried to reassemble it, _

_And my momma swore, _

_She would never let herself forget, _

_And that was the day that I promised,  
>I'd never sing of love,<br>If it does not exist, _

_But darling, _

_You are the only exception, _

_You are the only exception, _

_You are the only exception, _

_You are the only exception, _

_Maybe I know somewhere, _

_Deep in my soul, _

_That love never lasts, _

_And we've got to find other ways, _

_To make it alone, _

_Or keep a straight face, _

_And I've always lived like this, _

_Keeping a comfortable distance, _

_And up until now,  
>I had sworn to myself that I'm content, <em>

_With loneliness, _

_Because none of it was ever worth the risk, _

As she sang the chorus again I saw how caught up she got in the music and realized something. Sonny had lived this song. I wondered when she had wrote it and if maybe, just maybe, I was the only exception. My heart pounded as Sonny continued to sing.

_I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't,  
>Let go of what's in front of me here, <em>

_I know you're leaving in the morning, when you wake up, _

_Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, _

As she sang the final chorus and strummed the last notes on her guitar, I felt as if my tongue had gone numb. She looked up when she was finished, obviously expecting a response. "Sonny... that was good. Really good." _Well, that was articulate. _

"Thanks." She smiled briefly. "I wrote it awhile ago, but I still love singing it."

"Yeah. You sounded..." _Beautiful. Angelic. Amazing. Fantastic. _"-good." _Fail. _

"Thanks. Well, we should probably get started on our duet." Just then, her phone started to moo. She immediately jumped up. "Uh, actually, hold on a second. That might be my dad."

"Yeah, sure." But she was already answering anyway, a happy smile on her face. _I wonder why Sonny never mentioned her dad when we were dating. Is that where she went when she left So Random? To see her dad? _I sighed. _I doubt I'll ever know at this point. _

Sonny's POV:

"So, Dad, what's new with you?" I asked, smiling at the familiar tone of his voice.

"Well... actually that's what I called to talk to you about..." He sounded nervous.

"What? Is something wrong? Are you okay? Is Heather okay? Do I need to come home? Are you taking your meds?" I said, my pulse quickening as I thought of the thousands of disasters that might have happened.

"Calm down Sonny, it's alright. It's nothing like that. It's just that, uh, well I don't know exactly how to tell you this but..." He trailed off.

I laughed. "You sound like a kid trying to explain to his teacher why he didn't do his homework. Come on, Dad, just tell me. I'm a big girl."

"Well, Sunshine, the thing is... I'm getting married."

Instantly I felt numb all over. "What?" I gripped the phone tighter, trying to make sure this wasn't a dream. "You're kidding right? This has to be some kind of joke."

"It isn't. I'm sorry to spring it on you like this Sonny, but it... well, it just happened."

"Wh-who?" I stuttered. I noticed Chad giving me a weird look and walked to the other side of the room with my back turned to him, trying to get some privacy.

"My therapist. Lisa. You've met her."

I gasped and laughed at the same time, not believing my ears. The room spun. "You're marrying your therapist? Isn't that like against the law or something?" I blinked hard, trying to stop the tears from flooding my eyes. "When did this all happen? When did you even start dating her? And what about Mom? Does she know? Did she even know you were seeing another woman?"

"Sonny, we're divorced. I don't need to report back to your mother every time I start to date a woman." My dad sounded mildly exasperated.

"Dad, I-I can't believe you would do this to me! You're going to bring some random stranger into my life and expect me to just automatically love her? It doesn't work like that Dad." Tears choked my voice and I stopped talking to wipe my eyes.

"Sunshine..."

"Don't." I stopped him. "I've been trying to piece our family back together for a _year _Dad! I forgave you for every mistake you ever made. I promised to be there for you and for Heather. But not for this woman. Some psychologist who talked you into buying her a ring."

"Sonny, let's keep calm." My dad's soothing voice only irritated me further.

"I DON'T WANT TO KEEP CALM!" I screamed, not even caring if Chad heard. "Please don't marry her!"

"I love her." My dad's voice, quiet but sincere hit my heart at its rawest point. I felt my head start to grow fuzzy as the situation became too overwhelming to handle. I hit the end button on my phone as my stomach took a dive to my toes and my head spun.

"Chad I-" I tried to take a step forward and swayed helplessly back and forth. "Help!" The world went black.

Chad's POV:

"Sonny? Sonny!" I reached her just as she fell and managed to catch her in my arms at the last second. "Can you hear me?" I laid her gently on the ground and began to do first aid, first checking her pulse and breathing, then lightly smacking her wrists and cheeks in an attempt to wake her up. As I saw her lying there, so pale and still and not responding to me, fear chilled my heart.

I grabbed her water bottle and started to unscrew the cap, thinking the liquid would probably wake her up, when I remembered something my little sister had once told me when she was a little girl. _"If a princess ever falls asleep or faints, you've got to wake her up with a kiss. It means you love her. If she wakes up, you know she loves you too, and that she'll be yours forever. If she doesn't, it means you're not her Prince Charming." _As I stared down at Sonny, her brown hair spread out over the floor, her lips slightly parted, I realized that this was my chance. It was now or never. I gently touched her face with my hand and whispered the words that had been on my heart for so long, "I love you, my beautiful princess." I slipped my hand behind her neck and gently lifted her head. Then I took a deep breath, leaned down, and kissed her.

_AN: So. Much. Channy! :) So what did you think? Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and please review! _


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Hey everybody! Well because I love you and this story so much, I'm updating a little sooner than I usually do this time. I have to say... this chapter took awhile to write. Mostly because it includes a LOT of songs. I want to thank LilRockerStar, peaceluvar, KellyTheLovatic, kitkat299, usuihentai727, Mahomie4Ever55, and DannySamLover20 for reviewing. You guys are awesome (as always)! Please continue to review and favorite! :) _Special shout out to KellyTheLovatic for giving me the idea for one of the songs in here, you were right, it was perfect. Thanks! I do not own any of the songs in this chapter, a list of the songs and the original singers is in the bottom AN. Enjoy chapter eight! __

Sonny's POV:

_Warmth. Comfort. Safety. Love. _Slowly I became aware of the fact that I was staring at darkness._ Black. That's all I can see. Why can I only see black? Where am I? Am I asleep? Or blind? _A thin line of light appeared, and I realized I was opening my eyes. _Oh, my eyes were closed. _As my eyes opened fully, I realized someone was bending over me. "Chad..." I murmured, smiling.

"Sonny!" Chad gasped. "You're awake!" I realized suddenly he looked worried. Very worried. _What's wrong? Something's wrong. Why am I lying on the floor? _Suddenly, like a weight, the memories descended on me. The feud. The rehearsal. The phone call. _My dad is getting married again. _Instantly I pushed myself up, then steadied myself as my head swam.

"Oh my gosh, my dad's getting married!" I held my aching head in my hands. "I can't believe this."

"Woah, Sonny, slow down. Here, drink this." Chad offered my water bottle and I took it and gulped down some of the liquid. Slowly, my head began to clear.

"Thanks." I said briefly, hating that he had seen me in such a vulnerable position.

"Feel better?" Chad waited for me to nod, then swallowed a little nervously. "What do you remember?"

"Everything." I sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Chad's voice sounded terrified. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I remember the feud, and the rehearsals and the phone call and everything. And I remember... well, calling for you right before I blacked out." I blushed again and looked down at the ground.

"Oh... anything after that?" Chad said, fiddling with his collar self-consciously.

I gave him a look. "Uh, I was passed out Chad. So, no, I don't remember anything." I saw a mixture of relief and disappointment in his eyes and raised my eyebrows. "Why? What happened?"

"Nothing. It's just, you know, sometimes people see weird things when they pass out. Or, you know, like they hear angels sing or something. So I was just wondering." He laughed awkwardly and looked away.

"Right. Okay. Whatever." I let it go. "It's not like I almost died or anything. I just passed out because..." I trailed off.

"Because your dad's getting married again." Chad filled in for me. "Why is that such a bad thing?"

"It just is." I sighed.

"Oh, well that makes sense." He said drily.

I didn't even have the energy to get annoyed. "It's nothing you would understand Chad." I pulled my knees up to my chin and huddled there, feeling more alone than I had in a long time. "You've had it easy your whole life. I haven't." There was a long silence. Finally, I looked over to see him staring at me, eyes sad. "What?"

"Life hasn't always been easy for me Sonny. Just because you're a beloved TV star doesn't mean you don't have problems. Real problems, not just skin-deep ones." His tone was so serious, I felt taken aback. I looked away, not wanting to offend him by saying the words that were on the tip of my tongue.

"You don't believe me." I looked back at him, startled, as he said the words for me. He didn't look annoyed, just vaguely disappointed. "Sonny, when I was twelve years old, my dad left my mother, my little sister and I to fend for ourselves. He left us for some woman who was half his age. My mother... well... she just stopped. I don't know how to describe it. It's like she just closed herself off from me and Paige and the rest of the world. After awhile, she got hooked on medication." He sighed. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. _Why didn't Chad ever tell me any of this when we were dating? How could I not have known? _He continued, his eyes staring straight in front of him. "The meds were all legal, over the counter stuff, but she took too much and too often. It was mostly sleeping pills and anti-depressants, so she was knocked out or moody most of the time. It was... well, hard to keep it together for awhile."

"What happened?" I whispered.

"Well, one day I came home from the studio where I was working and I found my mom passed out in the bathroom. She overdosed." He looked down at the ground. "I called 911 and they rushed her to the hospital. They were barely able to save her life."

"Oh my gosh... Chad I-I don't know what to say." I stared at him.

He shrugged away my sympathy as if it hadn't been a big deal. "It was okay. Things got better after that. She went through treatment. She got it together again." He turned toward me and smiled. "The doctor who was with her when she first came in to the hospital walked with her through the whole process. Once she was on her feet again, they started dating. They got married right before I turned fourteen. He's the man I think of as my father."

"Woah." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah." Chad leaned toward me suddenly, his eyes serious. "I don't know what happened with your dad and your mom, or what you went through in your past, but I do know that change can be a good thing. I know it's scary, and I know you feel like you've already had too much of it in your life, but in the end, things usually turn out okay. And even if they don't, we learn to accept them. So try to be happy for your dad, if you can. This might be a good thing."

I stared at him. "Thank you." The words came softly, but were never more sincere.

"You're welcome." He said, equally softly.

_If I leaned forward right now, I would be able to kiss him. _The thought surprised me. _Do I want to kiss him? _A voice in my head whispered, _Yes! Who cares about journals and reporters and feuds and all the drama? Right here, right now, you know this is right for you. Tell him how you feel. Tell him about you, about your past. Break the silence. Be real. _

I took a deep breath. "Chad I-"

"Sonny?" A voice from across the room startled us both. Instantly we jumped away from eachother.

Shayne and Rebecca stood in the doorway, both looking confused. "What's going on?" Rebecca said, glaring at me.

"Nothing!" I said quickly, walking over to Shayne and smiling up at him. "Just rehearsing." _Thank goodness they walked in when they did and saved me from making the worst mistake of my life. _

"Oh. Okay then." Shayne smiled back at me. "I was wondering if you wanted to grab a smoothie real quick before everyone else gets back. If you guys are in a good place to stop that is."

"Yes." I glanced back at Chad, who still sat frozen on the floor. "I think this is the perfect place to stop."

"Great!" Shayne put his arm around my shoulders as we started to walk from the room. I smiled again, even as I felt my heart sink. _Forget it, Sonny. Chad isn't the one for you. You're just tricking yourself into thinking he cares about you. He doesn't care. If he really did, he wouldn't be your ex. _I glanced back at Chad and Rebecca. Chad was smiling as Rebecca said something to him. I sighed. _I have got to get him out of my head. We are never going to be together again, we're never even going to be able to be friends again. We're just enemies. _

Chad's POV:

I threw myself down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I had never felt so confused in all my life. _This is how it always is with Sonny and me. Up and down. High and low. Around in circles until I can't see straight anymore. How can I be in love with a girl who's so dang confusing! _I turned and punched the pillow behind my head. _One minute we're having this awesome moment, the next we're walking off in different directions with different people. What. The. Heck. _I slammed my fist into the pillow again, feeling some of my anger assuaged by the impact.

"Woah, bro. Anger issues much?" I turned to see Paige standing in the doorway of my room, an amused smile on her face.

I groaned. "Paige, I'm not in the mood."

"Ooooh, touchy, aren't we." She grinned and came to sit on the foot of my bed. "Okay, what's her name?"

I lifted my head. "What?"

"The name of the girl you like." Paige smiled smugly at my shocked expression. "Come on Chad, you've been moping around all week. You really think I haven't noticed?"

"Well... that doesn't mean it's a girl." I mumbled grumpily.

"But it is." Paige grinned again. "Once I came into your room to get something and you were asleep and you said... some stuff."

I froze. "Wait, what? What did I say?"

She waved away my concern. "It isn't important."

"Paige Cooper!" I yelled. "What did I say?"

"Well... you said something about the sun. And then you said 'I love you. You're beautiful.' and started doing this." She pursed her lips and made some exaggerated kissing noises.

_Well... this is the most embarrassing moment of my life. _"You're lying."

"Sadly, I'm really not."

I buried my face in my pillow. "Please just knock me out and revive me when this conversation is over."

She laughed. "Come on Chad! Details!"

I rolled over and stared at her. "You're thirteen. Don't you have to paint your nails or text some pimply boys?"

She leaned over and smacked me on the shoulder, all the while smiling happily. In ways she kind of reminded me of Sonny. When she was happy, she was really, really happy.

"Fine. The thing is-" Just then my phone beeped. I glanced at the text I'd received.

**Received at: 5:30 PM **

**From: Rebecca **

**Hey Chad, Marshall is taking the whole cast out to dinner. I think its supposed to establish team spirit or something... whatevs, but dinner out sounded good! What do u think? **

I smiled at my sister. "Sorry, sis, but this awkward conversation is going to have to wait. I've got somewhere to be."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine! But don't think you're going to get out of spilling to me! I will know all sooner or later!" She stood up and smiled at me. "Have fun tonight Chaddy!"

"Thanks." I smiled back at her as she walked out of the room. Then I quickly texted Rebecca back.

**Sent at: 5:32 PM **

**To: Rebecca **

**That sounds... interesting. But isn't Marshall worried we'll start a food fight again? **

**Received at: 5:35 PM **

**From: Rebecca **

**LOL! I thought that too, but apparently he thinks it will be fine as long as he's there. We're all going together in one of the studio vans, so meet us in the parking lot in front in fifteen minutes ok? **

**Sent at: 5:37 PM **

**To: Rebecca **

**Ok, sounds great, but where are we going? **

**Received at: 5:40 PM **

**From: Rebecca **

**IDK exactly. But Marshall said something about a karaoke bar...? Anyway, I can't wait to see you there! ;) **

I sighed as I slipped my phone into my pocket. Rebecca seemed like a nice girl. She just wasn't Sonny...

Sonny's POV:

I took another bite of my burger as another singing hopeful stepped back from the microphone to polite applause from the other people in the restaurant. I looked around the table at everyone. They looked mostly happy, and were talking amongst themselves without much restraint. I did notice though that everyone still stuck to the "groups" the feud had divided us into. I inwardly sighed. Suddenly I noticed Tawni say something to Damien. "Well, if you think you could do better, why don't you show us?" Her tone was tight with annoyance.

Damien sighed and held up his hands. "Hey, look, I'm not necessarily saying I could do better, I was just saying that people who sing karaoke generally don't seem to have very good voices."

"Oh, so you're just going to judge them? That's nice." Tawni rolled her eyes and slowly a hush fell over the table as everyone realized they were on the brink of an argument.

Damien stared at her for a minute. For a second I thought he was going to start arguing with her, but he just got up and slowly walked over the the DJ. He said something in a low tone to him, then climbed onstage.

The DJ said, "Okay everyone! We've got a new face stepping up to the mic. Put your hands together for Damien Johanssen!"

Our entire table applauded except Tawni as Damien spoke into the mic. "Thanks everybody. Well, this is kind of new to me, and I'm not promising I'll be any good at it, but I'm going to try. This song is dedicated to a girl who's too good for me and loves to remind me of it." The crowd laughed as Damien grinned and nodded to the DJ.

_She's a hollywood dream,  
>Straight from an A-list movie scene,<br>Living the camera life,  
>Oh, she is the queen of Rodeo Drive,<em>

I am a midwest boy,  
>Straight from a small town with a voice,<br>Screaming 'I want her with me',  
>She could be the hills in my beverly, my beverly,<p>

She's a beautiful ray, a socialite,  
>A paparazzi flash on a Friday night,<br>Got me talking kinda fast like I'm on the fly,  
>I gotta get her here, oh-oh oh-oh,<p>

On the front of the magazines the world over,  
>I'm looking at her pretty face at every turn,<br>Loving the way she drives a range rover,  
>She's independent, oh-oh oh-oh,<p>

Ce-ele-ebrity, come and be with me,  
>Ce-ele-ebrity, come and be with me,<br>Cuz, I really think you might like my style,  
>Take a break, get away for a while,<br>Don't got a lot but I got a smile,

_I'd like to show you, _

I tried to catch Tawni's eye as Damien sang. Obviously this song was about her, and I wasn't sure how she'd take it. She wouldn't look at me though. She just kept staring at him.

Damien continued to sing, his voice softening.

_What do I gotta do to be her everything,  
>What do I gotta do to make her notice me,<br>Everybody knows her name,  
>I wanna be worth more than fame,<br>I'm staring out into the crowd,  
>But I'm without the one thing that I need right now,<br>So come be my good feeling,  
>Ohh.. <em>

I glanced over at Tawni, but she was looking down at the ground now, blushing slightly. I looked over at Chad, who was also looking at her. When he saw me looking at him, he flashed me a quick, hesitant smile.

_I've got designer dreams,  
>She's got designer shades,<br>Can't look away from her magnetic gaze,  
>Killing me slowly when,<br>Her lips are talking,  
>When I untie my t-t-tongue I swear I'll say,<br>Pretty girl, pretty girl,  
>Would you trade L.A. to come into my world?<br>Couldn't ask for nothing more,  
>City girl, tell me could you fall in love with a...<em>

_Midwest boy? _

As Damien finished singing Tawni finally glanced at me, and I gave her a mischievous grin. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair back behind her shoulders, normal Tawni returning in an instant.

Damien walked back toward our table through the first real applause of the night. "How was that Tawni?" He grinned and leaned toward her. For a second, I was sure he was going to kiss her, but Tawni quickly stood up and moved away from him.

"I could do better. I can wrap anyone around my finger. Including this crowd." She smirked at Damien and walked quickly toward the stage. He sank back into his seat, scowling, even as his friends congratulated him.

Tawni spoke quietly to the DJ, then walked up the microphone. "Hey y'all! This is a love song I've loved since I was a kid. This is dedicated to a boy who loves to play it cool... and is never any good at it. At least where I'm concerned." She grinned smugly at Damien as the crowd laughed. He sank down into his seat and rolled his eyes. I could almost hear him deciding to hate Tawni's song, no matter what it was.

The music started, and Tawni started to sing, her eyes fixed on Damien.

_Kiss me tonight,  
>I'm falling under,<br>Kiss me forever,_

_Oh no, you don't need to be shy,  
>Oh yeah, it'll work out just fine,<br>So, kiss me tonight,  
>What are you waitin' for?<em>

_Take my hand, let's dive in, to the sea of love,  
>Take my heart, here's the start, right in front of us,<br>We could be everything and it won't change anything so,  
>Take my hand and we'll see when you kiss me,<em>

_Here we are, time is ticking away,  
>Don't wanna see tomorrow,<br>Oh no, I don't want this night to end,  
>Oh yeah love is waiting to begin,<br>Here we are, so what are you waitin' for?_

I looked over at Damien and saw him staring at Tawni, looking totally blown away. His frown was gone, and he was sitting up straight again, as if he'd totally forgotten his frustration from a minute before. I inwardly smiled. _Maybe Tawni can wrap anyone around her finger! _As Tawni continued to sing, I saw Damien start to rise out of his chair. Everyone at our table was staring at him, but he didn't seem to notice us. Slowly he walked towards the stage as Tawni continued to sing.

_It's our ticket to love,  
>Come on, I know you wanna hold me,<br>You wanna show me but you kiss me tonight, ooh,  
>Kiss me tonight,<br>What are you waitin' for? _

Damien climbed up onstage and looked straight at her. Tawni stared up at him, looking more nervous and vulnerable than I'd ever seen her before. She stopped singing, but the music continued, the only noise in the otherwise deadly silent room.

He smiled slowly and said, "What am I waiting for? Nothing." Then he pulled her to him and kissed her.

There was a moment of complete silence, then, as the music stopped, the crowd went wild. "Oh my gosh! Awww!" I said, grinning happily as Tawni and Damien walked back to our table, both smiling shyly. Even Marshall clapped and smiled. _Maybe everything WILL be okay, _I thought as I looked around the table, _maybe we can stop competing and fighting and- _

"I think its time for a KARAOKE BATTLE!" Nico yelled. "Losers have to eat the grossest thing on the menu."

"Sounds great. But you people on Team Sonny might as well prepare your stomachs now." Rebecca smirked.

_Or... not. _I sighed.

"Alright, but I think Damien and Tawni should be disqualified for making out onstage." Chad grinned.

"Dude! We were not mak-" Damien abruptly stopped as Tawni giggled and pulled him in for another kiss.

"Eeeew! Really guys?" Zora rolled her eyes and made a gagging noise. "Too much PDA!"

"Also too much lipstick." Matthew commented as Damien broke away from Tawni again looking dazed and happy, with lips plastered with red smudges. Matthew handed him a napkin. "Might wanna clean that up buddy."

"Fine! Damien and Tawni are disqualified." Shayne said. "But who's going next?"

…

"Okay!" I looked over the scores. "So far we've had Nico against Shayne, Rebecca against Bridget, Audrey against Zora, and Grady against Matthew. Both teams are tied. The only people left are Celia, Grace, Chad, and me."

"Looks like you're up!" Matthew said to Celia.

Celia shrank back in her seat. "I'm not going up there."

Rebecca looked exasperated. "Celia, you have to!"

She shook her head. "Becca... I really can't. I'm sorry."

Grace bit her lip. "Yeah, I'm kind of with Celia on this one. Acting and dancing are okay, but singing was never really my thing."

"It's okay." I said quickly, trying to make them feel better. "If you guys don't want to, it's not a big deal. Chad and I will go up against eachother." Even as I said the words, I felt my stomach take a dive. _Sonny vs. Chad? Oh that's just terrific. So much for establishing a team spirit. _I glanced at Marshall but he seemed to be enjoying the situation. I shot him a look.

"Well, ladies first." Chad said smoothly.

I shook my head, my competitive side kicking in in spite of myself. "Wouldn't that mean you're first Cooper?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, then grinned. "Very well then."

He stood up, said something to the DJ, and walked to the mic. "What's up everybody? I'm new to the whole karaoke scene, so those of you who have ear plugs may want to insert those now." The crowd laughed as Chad continued. "Anyway, hope you enjoy this song."

_I'm used to being on my own,  
>Keeping my heart shut down,<br>If I don't go there,  
>I won't get hurt, <em>

_But the pretty girl said, _

_'If you're never ever gonna get hurt again, _

_Are you ever gonna feel another thing my friend?' _

_And I like the way she talks, _

_And I l-l-l-l-like the way,  
>She spins my world around, <em>

_And my h-h-h-hearts good for one more kick, _

_So how do we do this?  
>Cause I believe you're worth it,<br>How do we do this? _

_What's it take, _

_And is it gonna break me down? _

_I've found, _

_That nothing can count for nothing,  
>So you better come round,<br>I'm down, _

_How do we do this? _

I smiled a little to myself as the song continued. Was it my imagination or was Chad looking straight at me as he sang?

_So tell me if you're ready, _

_Cause things are getting heavy, _

_And I don't want to fall apart,  
>Cause spending time with you, <em>

_Is all I want to do, _

_You know it's scary giving up your heart,  
>But you give me that something,<br>Been waiting so long, _

_And I make you smile,  
>That's why I wrote this song! <em>

My phone beeped suddenly as I received a text message from Tawni.

**From: Tawni **

**Oh my gosh... he is totally singing this 2 u! He is such a jerk, but this is soooo adorable! **

I rolled my eyes and texted back.

**To: Tawni **

**Yeah... right. **

_I've risked it, _

_One kiss is,  
>All that it's taken, <em>

_I'm shaking, _

_Heart breaking,  
>I think you'd be worth the pain, <em>

As Chad finished singing I looked down and swallowed the lump in my throat. I wanted to believe Chad had sung that about me, but I knew it wasn't true. _Chad doesn't love you. Just get used to that. _

I stood to my feet before he reached the table again so I wouldn't have to comment on his performance and walked toward the DJ. I whispered the song title I wanted to sing, then walked into the spotlight, suddenly beginning to feel slightly nervous. _It's okay Sonny. Just sing what's on your heart. _"Hey everyone," I said, smiling, "I'm going to sing one of my favorite songs that accurately describes most of the relationships I've been in. One thing about me that never changes, I always take forever to get over people. Hope you enjoy this!" I started to sing, keeping my eyes away from Chad and our table.

_I throw all of your stuff away,  
>And I clear you out of my head,<br>I tear you out of my heart,  
>And ignore all your messages, <em>

_I tell everyone we are through,  
>Cause I'm so much better without you, <em>

_But it's just another pretty lie,  
>Cause I break down, <em>

_Everytime you come around, _

_Oh-oh, _

_So how did you get here under my skin?  
>Swore that I'd never let you back in, <em>

_Should have known better, _

_Than trying to let you go,  
>Cause here we go go go again, <em>

_Hard as I try,  
>I know I can't quit,<br>Something about you is so addictive, _

_We're falling together,  
>You'd think that by now I'd know, <em>

_Cause here we go go go again, _

I glanced at Chad and almost stopped singing. He was staring at me, his eyes full of... something. Some emotion I couldn't put a name on. I felt my heart skip a beat... he was looking at me the way I always wished he would. Like... maybe he was really in love with me. _Here we go again... _

_You never know what you want,  
>And you never say what you mean,<br>But I start to go insane, _

_Everytime that you look at me, _

_You only hear half of what I say,  
>And you're always showing up too late, <em>

_And I know that I should say goodbye,  
>But it's no use, <em>

_Can't be with or without you, _

_Oh-oh, _

As I finally finished singing, I realized how much I had put into the song. My throat felt dry and I felt as if every bit of energy I had had gone into the song. The audience erupted into applause, and I smiled and replaced the mic, walking back through the crowd.

"Wow, Sonny. That was amazing." Bridget smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up.

"Yeah that was awesome." Nico and Grady both slapped me high fives.

"So do we have a winner?" I said as I took a drink of my water and sat back in my chair.

"Well... no." Rebecca said slowly.

"What?" I said quickly.

"We all agreed that you and Chad got about the same amount of applause." Shayne said. "So I guess it's just a draw."

"What? No! Totally not fair." Tawni said. "They have to have a tie-breaker."

"Oh, Tawni it's fine!" I said quickly, but the idea had already caught on.

"Yeah, a tie-breaker duet!" Audrey said, then quickly shut up as Rebecca glared at her.

"That's an awesome idea Audrey!" Grace said. "Then we'll all judge who did best."

"But won't everybody just vote for the person who's on their team?" Shayne interjected. "That's stupid."

"Yeah." Chad said. "But nice try everyone."

"No way!" Zora said. "We're not giving up that easily. Marshall will judge it. He'll be impartial."

Everyone turned to Marshall, who shrugged. "Fine by me."

Everyone stared at Chad and I. "Uhh, okay I guess." I laughed nervously.

"Anyway," Marshall said, "this will be a good time for you two to practice the duet you're going to sing on the show in front of a crowd."

"Oh...yeah." Chad said slowly. I shot him a panicked look. We hadn't done any rehearsing during the lunch break, what with everything that went on. We hadn't even picked a song yet.

"Great!" I said, with my best fake smile. Together Chad and I stood and walked over to the DJ.

Chad whispered to him, "What's the most popular song people sing as a duet here?"

The DJ glanced at his computer. "Looks like the current favorite is Just A Kiss."

Chad looked over at me. "Do you know it?" I nodded, wordless.

"Okay, great, we'll sing that then."

"Alright then. Miss, your lines will appear in pink on the screen and your boyfriend's will appear in blue. The lines you sing together will appear in purple." I smiled half-heartedly and nodded, too upset to even bother correcting him. _Just A Kiss? Why did it have to be that song? Why couldn't it be any other song but that? _

We walked to the mic stands and waited for the music to start, not even bothering to re-introduce ourselves. I gripped the mic in my hands, my palms sweating, my stomach full of butterflies. I looked over at Chad, but he was avoiding my gaze. The music started and I realized as the words flashed on the screen that I sang the first part.

_Lyin' here with you so close to me,  
>It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe,<br>Caught up in this moment,  
>Caught up in your smile, <em>

Chad appeared to take a deep breath, then he began to sing his part, moving closer to me on the stage, his eyes fixed on my face. _  
><em>

_I've never opened up to anyone,  
>So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms,<br>We don't need to rush this,  
>Let's just take it slow ,<em>

Then we both started to sing the chorus.

Chad's POV:

_Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight,  
>Just a touch of the fire burning so bright,<br>No, I don't wanna mess this thing up,  
>No, I don't wanna push too far,<br>Just a shot in the dark that you just might,  
>Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life,<br>So baby, I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight, _

_I can't believe I'm standing here singing these words to Sonny, _I thought, my heart pounding. _Why can't this be real? Why does this have to be some crazy competition between the split sides of our cast? Why can't I just tell her how I feel? _A voice in my head whispered, _cause she doesn't feel the same way. That's why. Just let it go Chad. _

_I know that if we give this a little time,  
>It'll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find,<br>It's never felt so real, no it's never felt so right,_

Sonny sang, putting her heart and soul into the music the way I loved to see her do. Her beautiful brown hair tumbled down her back and shoulders, and I couldn't help but smile at how gorgeous she was.

_No, I don't want to say goodnight, _

_I know it's time to leave, _

_But you'll be in my dreams,  
>Tonight, <em>

_Tonight, _

_Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight, _

_Just a touch of the fire burning so bright, _

_No, I don't want to mess this thing up, _

_I don't want to push too far, _

_Just a shot in the dark that you just might, _

_Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life, _

_So baby, I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight, _

_Ooh, let's do this right,  
>Just a kiss goodnight, <em>

_With a kiss goodnight, _

_Kiss goodnight... _

As we both finally stopped singing the room fell completely silent. Then suddenly everyone in the room was on their feet, giving us a standing ovation. I shook my head as if coming out of a dream as I saw Sonny blush and take a bow. I bowed too, then hurried off the stage, trying to get some composure. As we both walked back to the table, the applause didn't even grow quieter. Sonny bit her lip, then smiled her sunniest smile.

"Kids! That was fantastic! More than fantastic, that was beautiful!" Marshall grinned and hugged us both. "You guys must have put in a ton of practice today. I can't wait to hear you two perform that on the show!"

We both looked away and muttered something vague. Marshall gave us a look. "That is the song you're performing on the show right? Cause if it isn't, I think it should be. It sounded A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!"

"Uhhh, I don't know Marshall." Sonny mumbled. "That song is pretty... intense."

"If by intense you mean great, then yes, it was intense." Tawni beamed at her friend. Sonny smiled but still looked nervous. She wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Yeah, Marshall, I don't know."

"Come on, Chad, that was great." Matthew smiled. "Do it! Everyone will love it. I can even see that song cover becoming a huge hit!"

"Welll...," I glanced at Sonny, "if Sonny's cool with it, I guess I'm in."

She studied the ground. Marshall quietly said, "Sonny? It would be good for the show."

She sighed and nodded. "Okay."

I couldn't help but smile as most of our fellow cast members broke out into applause again. But then I looked around and saw Shayne and Rebecca. They were glaring at Marshall. And they were glaring at us.

_AN: Okay, yes, I know what you're thinking. SONNY DIDN'T REMEMBER THE KISS! WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THAT? Well, I'm not going to tell you. But believe me, it's all part of the plan, and the end result will be beautiful and romantic, don't worry. I've got it all figured out. This story is nearing the home stretch actually, there will probably only be about three more chapters at most. Songs used in this chapter are: Just A Kiss, sung by Lady Antebellum, How We Do This, sung by Sterling Knight, Here We Go Again, sung by Demi Lovato, Hollywood Dream, sung by The Ready Set, and Kiss Me, sung by Tiffany Thornton. Hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading! _


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: So here it is, the second to last chapter of Just Enemies. I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile, but I just had trouble getting started on this chapter for some reason. But today I decided that instead of doing my homework or getting ready to go somewhere later tonight, I would do something even MORE productive and finish this chapter for you guys! Hope you enjoy it, I tried to make it pretty good. Thank you to LilRockerStar, KellyTheLovatic, usuihentai727, and DannySamLover20 for reviewing, you guys are great. Also, I realized I made a mistake, in last chapter's author note I thanked KellyTheLovatic for giving me the song idea for the duet Sonny and Chad sing in the karaoke battle (Just a Kiss) but I realized it wasn't her who suggested it! It was Mahomie4Ever55! I'm sorry for the mix-up! Anyway, enjoy chapter nine!  
><em>

__Sonny's POV:

_I was standing in the rehearsal room, but I wasn't sure why. The lighting was hazy and the entire scene in front of me seemed to waver at the edges, like it wasn't really happening. I glanced over and gasped. There was a girl sprawled out on the floor. A blonde guy who looked a lot like Chad was leaning over her, apparently freaking out. As I looked more closely at the guy, I could tell it **was **Chad. I tried to walk over to see what was wrong, but I couldn't move. My feet were glued to the floor. All I could do was watch what was happening. I saw Chad start to unscrew the lid of a water bottle, probably thinking he could revive her with the water. But then he stopped and just sat there, looking thoughtful, and then nervous, like he was about to take some huge risk. Finally, he leaned down, whispered something in her ear, and kissed her. And suddenly I knew... that girl was me. _

_The next second I was lying on the ground, and I felt Chad's lips on mine, so I put my arms around his neck and kissed him back. He pulled me up into a sitting position and onto his lap, his lips never leaving mine, and all I could do was kiss him back and think about how right it felt to be back in his arms again. When he pulled away he laughed and ran his hand over my hair, his blue eyes shining brighter than I'd ever seen them before. Then he whispered quietly, "I love you, Sonny." I didn't bother to say it back to him, even though I knew it was true. I just leaned forward and felt his lips meet mine again... _

_Knock, knock, knock. _My eyes flew open and I nearly fell off the couch where I was lying. "Sonny," someone said from the other side of the dressing room door, "are you in there?"

"Uh," I sat up, quickly straightening my hair and clothes, "yeah, I am. Who is it?"

"It's Shayne. I wanted to talk to you, if you have a minute."

"Of course. Come on in." I pasted a smile on my face as Shayne opened the door. _Please, please, please don't let him be coming in here to talk about 'us'. I couldn't take that. Not after last night. _

"Hey, Sonny." He glanced around the room. "Where's Tawni?"

"Costume fitting." I smiled. "You know how important it is to Tawni to always look fabulous."

"Right." Shayne smiled, looking a little distracted. "Did I wake you up?"

"Well... yes, but it's not a big deal. I was kind of tired this morning because of our late night last night."

"Yeah." Shayne grinned. "Who knew karaoke could get so intense?"

"Yeah." I looked away. "Who knew?"

There was a long, awkward pause. Shayne cleared his throat. "Actually, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. When you sang that duet with Chad... well, I-I was wondering, I know its none of my business, but I need to know-" He trailed off.

I bit my lip. _Please don't do this Shayne._

"Sonny?" Shayne met my gaze, looking determined. "Are you in love with Chad?"

"What?" I gasped, feeling as if someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water on me. In a flash my dream rushed back on me. _Oh my gosh. Chad kissed me awake. Was it just a dream? Or did it really happen? Does Chad still like me? _

"Well?" Shayne's voice abruptly brought me back to reality, where his awkward question was still hanging in the air between us.

"I-I..." I stuttered, feeling suddenly overwhelmed. "Shayne, I-"

He continued, frowning. "Because if you do, I'd have to tell you, he's all wrong for you Sonny."

I stopped short in my mumbled apology. "What?"

"He's all wrong for you." Shayne sat down beside me and leaned forward, talking earnestly. "Think about it Sonny. He's nothing but an arrogant jerk. He set you up. He played you. If I hadn't paid those reporters to keep quiet and give me the pictures, your little scandal would be all over the tabloids by now. All he's ever done is cause you heartbreak. He's a low, miserable excuse for a human being, and I'm sorry I was ever friends with him. I don't know what Rebecca sees him. The point is, he's a loser, and I can't let you go out with a guy like that. So whatever, you're feeling, let it go. You don't belong with a slimeball like that. You belong with a real man. Like me."

I sat there, staring at Shayne, feeling every one of his words pierce me as if he was talking about me and not Chad. Anger flooded over me. _How dare he say those things about Chad? He doesn't even know him. _"Stop." I said. My voice was ice cold. "Just stop."

"But, Sonny," Shayne said, looking surprised at my tone, "I know what's best for you-"

"No." I interrupted him. "You don't. How dare you come in here and think you can _tell _me who to date? If I want to like Chad Dylan Cooper, I will. He has a lot of faults, but he's not any of the things you just called him. I can't believe you, Shayne." I jumped up. "Chad's been through a lot. More than you'll ever know. You can't just come walking in here and-"

"And what?" Shayne stood up too, the shock on his face quickly turning into anger. "And tell you the truth? That you're wasting your time? That Chad will never in a million years love you? That he's not capable of thinking about anyone but himself? That he's nothing but trash you should have kicked to the curb over a year ago? Reality check Sonny: He set you up and then blamed you for something you didn't do. Those aren't exactly the actions of a gentleman."

"Chad is twice the man you'll ever be." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. They hung in the air between us, as I tried to hold back my tears.

"Sonny," Shayne's voice was quiet, dangerous, "did you ever destroy the film I gave you? With the pictures of you and Chad on it?"

I looked up, surprised at his sudden change of subject. "What?"

"Did you ever destroy the film I gave you?" Shayne said slowly, as if I was a dumb little kid he was trying to get to understand him.

"No. I think its still in my purse." I said, wary of where this was going.

Shayne threw his hands up in the air. "What the heck! Do you know how much trouble I went to to get those back for you so your precious little goody-two shoes reputation wouldn't be ruined? Think of what would happen if that if that fell into the wrong hands?"

My anger flashed again. "Yes, I know Shayne. And you know what else I know?" I walked over to my purse and yanked out the film canisters. "You can have these back. I don't want to owe you any favors." I threw them at him, and he seemed to catch them automatically. "There. We're all settled up. Now, please, get out of my dressing room."

"Sonny," Shayne was starting to look a little ashamed of myself, "I didn't mean to-"

"No, don't say it. Please." I pointed at the door, suddenly feeling very, very tired. "Just go."

He stood there for a second and then opened the door and walked out. As the door shut behind him I collapsed on the couch and buried my face in a pillow. With my whole life in shambles, there was only one thing left to do. Hoping the pillow would kind of muffle it, I screamed as loud as I could.

"I don't know what happened. He just started going on and on about what a horrible guy Chad was, and how horrible it would be for me if I liked him. And I just... snapped." I sighed. "I think I'm losing it."

"No you're not." Tawni turned from her dressing room mirror. "You're in love."

I laughed and looked away. "Yeah, right."

"Sonny!" Tawni said sharply. "For once in your life, stop lying about your feelings for Chad! You love him, and he loves you. Everybody knows it but you too!"  
>I froze. "Chad, l-loves me?" I gasped breathlessly.<p>

She rolled her eyes and came to sit next to me on the couch. "Duh. He's crazy about you. How could you not see it?"

I shook my head, amazed. "I don't know..."

"Look, Sonny, I'm not saying that he's not a jerk sometimes. And I'm not saying that he didn't set you up. All I'm saying is that you love him. And he loves you. And I don't think love is something that goes away over a little friendly cast feud."

I glanced at her, eyebrows raised. "Friendly?"

She shrugged. "Or not so friendly. Whatever. The point is, if you never jump and tell him how you feel, you're going to spend the rest of your life wondering what you could have had together. I know, I've been there. So just step across that line, and go for it. Now."

I gulped. "What? Now?"

Tawni nodded, serious. "Look, tonights the show. It'd be nice if we could all be a team. You can't tell him you don't miss him. I've seen the way you look at him. And who knows what will happen after tonight. It's now or never."

I thought back over the heart-ache of the last week. Finally, I took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to tell him how I feel."

Tawni grinned at me. "Then I'll tell everyone to avoid his dressing room for awhile. I don't think any of us want to see you two making out."

I rolled my eyes and smacked her lightly on the shoulder. I stood up and walked toward the door. Suddenly I paused, remembering something. "Hey Tawni, what about Rebecca?"

Tawni scoffed. "He cares about her about as much as you care about Shayne. Don't worry."

I smiled. "Okay. And Tawni?"

"What?"

"Thanks." I walked back over to her and gave her a hug. "I owe you one."

She smiled. "Yes, you do. Now stop stalling and go!"

I grinned as I walked out the door, my heart pumping and my head spinning. _I can't believe this. I'm actually going to tell Chad how I feel. And he loves me. Or at least Tawni says so. Maybe things are finally going to work out. Maybe we can go back to being Channy. _

I turned the corner and headed down the hall to Chad's dressing room, knowing that my smile was big and goofy and not caring at all. I saw Chad's dressing room door was opened and looked inside, wondering if he was there. Instantly, my smile disappeared, and I felt myself go numb. He was there alright. And he was kissing Rebecca.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was running back up the hall the way I had come, hot tears streaming down my cheeks, with a horrible pain in my heart I was sure would never go away. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. How could I have been so stupid? _

I ran back into our dressing room, just as Tawni looked up, startled. "Sonny, wha-"

"Tawni," I took a deep breath, "help me pack. I'm leaving. Right now."

Chad's POV:

I walked down the hall to Sonny's dressing room, feeling like I was about to ask the prettiest girl in my school to be my date to prom. _No, this is bigger than that. This is asking the most beautiful girl in the world to be my girlfriend... again. _I felt my palms begin to sweat and rubbed against my jeans, giving myself a mental pep-talk. _Just go for it, Chad. You love her. Nothing is going to change that. _As I reached Sonny and Tawni's dressing room door, I took a final deep breath, prayed this would turn out alright, and opened the door.

Immediately my eyes widened. Tawni was lying on the couch, holding on to a tissue box. Her eyes were red-rimmed and weepy, and it occurred to me that I'd never seen Tawni cry before. She saw me standing in the doorway and her sad eyes suddenly turned furious.

"You!" She spat out the word as if it were poison, and grabbed a pair of shoes off the floor. Before I knew what was happening, they were sailing towards my head.

"Woah!" I ducked just in time, and the shoes went over my head into the hallway. "What's your problem?"

"I'll tell you what my problem is you big JERK!" She sat up and reached for a handbag. "You broke Sonny's heart!" She launched the bag at me, and I jumped to the side. It slammed into the wall just behind where I had been standing moments before. _Wow. Who knew Tawni had such a good arm? Wait... broke Sonny's heart? _

"What? What are you talking about?" I yelled.

"Sonny went to tell you how she really feels about you, and when she got to your dressing room you were lip-locking with Rebecca! How could you?" Tawni charged me.

"Woah!" I held up my hands. "I didn't kiss her! She kissed me!"

Tawni stopped suddenly, looking suspicious. "What?"

"She came into my dressing room, acting all flirtatious. I tried to discourage her, but I felt bad because I'd... well, I'd used her to make Sonny jealous. Anyway, I thought I might finally be getting through when she grabbed me and kissed me. When I finally got away from her, I told her I wasn't interested in her like that. She was pretty, uh, upset." I said, tactfully, rubbing my cheek where she had slapped it. _Hey, I deserved it for leading her on. _My heart sank. "Sonny saw that?"

"Well, just the kissing part." Tawni said. She didn't sound angry now, just tired and sad.

"Oh no." I sighed. This could be bad. "Where is she? I really need to talk to her and explain... not just about Rebecca but about us... I'm going to tell her that I, well, that I love her." I grinned just as I said the words. "I realized after our duet last night that there was no point in trying to trick myself or her any longer. I don't care about stupid journals or feuds. I just want Sonny."

Tawni groaned. "I can't believe this."

"What? Why?" I looked at her, fear chilling me. "Tawni, where is she?"

"Chad... she's gone. She came back her saying that she wanted to leave, that she couldn't handle it anymore. I tried to convince her to stay but she wasn't having any of it. She left about a half hour ago."

"No..." I felt all the air leave my lungs. "No, no, no, no. You've got to be kidding me! What flight was she taking?"

Tawni shrugged. "I'm sorry, Chad, I just don't know."

"What don't you know?" Marshall walked in, followed by the rest of the cast. "Come on kids, its time for the final rehearsal before the show. Where's Sonny?"

"She's gone, Marshall. She left to go back to Wisconsin." Tawni said flatly.

"What? What happened?" Marshall said, looking panicked.

"Uh..." Tawni glanced at me. I felt myself shrink as everyone turned to stare at me.

"Oh... no." Marshall sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This _can't _be happening."

"She left letters for everybody." Tawni went over and picked up a small stack of envelopes off her vanity. "There's one for the original Randoms, one for the new additions to the cast, one for Chad, one for Marshall, and one for Shayne." I felt myself tense as she handed me my envelope with Sonny's writing on the front. _Marshall's right. This _can't _be happening. _

Zora took the letter for the original Randoms, opened it, and read it out loud, tears shining in her eyes.

_Dear Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora, _

_First things first, I'm so sorry I'm leaving on such short notice. Please believe me when I say, it has nothing to do with any of you. You are some of the best friends I have ever had, and you have all stuck by me, through thick and thin, since I came back to So Random earlier this week. I will never forget the good times we've had together, all the laughs and the pizzas we've shared on pizza night. You are all incredible comedians and I know you all have bright futures ahead of you. Please stay in touch, and thank you for welcoming the little girl from Wisconsin into your world not once, but twice. _

_Love, _

_Sonny _

Matthew took the letter meant for the rest of the cast and opened it. He read it out loud too, looking a little ashamed of himself.

_Dear Matthew, Damien, Grace, Audrey, Bridget, Celia, Rebecca, and Shayne, _

_I'm so sorry. I know I disrupted the whole cast by coming back to So Random, and I hope you'll forgive me. You are all amazing people and whether you were on 'Team Chad' or 'Team Sonny' I liked and respected you all. I don't know if it even matters now, but I didn't steal Chad's journal. I hope, having known me for a week now, you will at least believe that. You are all great on So Random, and I know that because you're all so great, you will be able to make it a fantastic show tonight, even without me. I wish you all luck, and I'm sorry for disappearing. _

_Love, _

_Sonny _

The room was almost completely silent as Marshall opened his letter and read it.

_Dear Marshall, _

_I don't even know what to say. I know I'm putting you in a tight spot, but I also know you have a group of wonderful actors and actresses here, who will be able to pull it off. Please believe me, when I asked that no contracts or agents be involved, this is definitely not the kind of thing I was envisioning. I didn't plan to run away, or cause any of the trouble I have the last week. Marshall, you and Mr. Condor gave a regular girl from Wisconsin a chance to shine on her favorite TV show, and I can't thank you enough for that. I've had such a good time working with you._

_Love,  
>Sonny <em>

Shayne opened his letter and read it, his voice sad.

_Dear Shayne, _

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying what I did earlier. I'm sorry because I used you to make Chad jealous. I'm sorry you got caught up in this whole web of head games. You didn't deserve that, and I knew it the whole time and still let you get involved. I know that earlier you were just trying to do what was best for me, but you can't make those kind of decisions for me. I need to be able to think for myself. But thanks for trying to do the right thing. I appreciate it._

_Wishing you the best, _

_Sonny _

The room fell silent again as Shayne finished reading and pushed the letter back inside the envelope. I stared down at the envelope in my hands, then slowly turned it over, pushed up the flap, and pulled out the letter. I read it silently. I couldn't trust myself to speak.

_Dear Chad, _

_Wow. Things have been crazy lately, haven't they? I don't know what to say. I can't hide the fact that you hurt me. But it's not your fault. It's mine. I was delusional to think that you still cared. But it's easy for girls to trick themselves into thinking that one guy likes them... particularly when they still have feelings for him. I could go on and on, about how I wish you and Rebecca the best, and that I'm sorry for still having feelings for you, but the thing is, I'm not. I'm not going to hide anymore. So here's the truth: Chad Dylan Cooper, I love you. It may not matter to you anymore, but I've still got to say it. I don't wish you and Rebecca the best, because I love you and want to be with you, but that doesn't change the fact that I want you to be happy, and if you're happy with her, well I guess that's that. So goodbye Chad. Goodbye forever. _

_Love always,_

_Your Sonny _

"Chad? Are you okay? Chad?" Tawni's voice brought me back to the present. "You're crying."

"She can't be gone." I said, my voice thick with tears. "She loves me. I love her. It can't end like this. I have to get her back."

"Chad... I'm so sorry." Tawni looked away. "But this time it really is too late."

_AN: Well... that was pretty depressing wasn't it? __Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Oh! I almost forgot. I wrote a SWAC one-shot called Once Upon a Lie and it was pretty cute (in my opinion :p) so check it out if you're bored and have nothing better to do. Please review if you liked this chapter, its all the reviews and the favorites and the alerts that keep me writing. Oh, and by the way, particular shout out to all the people who have put me on their favorite author's list, I always take that as a huge compliment, so, yeah, thanks! If I don't get around to writing the next (and LAST) chapter and you're dying to_ _know what happens, don't be afraid to review again and bug me a little, sometimes I need a little extra motivation. Thanks for reading! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Oh my gosh guys. This is the last full chapter of Just Enemies. I tried really, really, really hard to make it good. Just so you know, I may write a short epilogue, but I'm also kinda sorta thinking about maybe doing a sequel to this because there's a lot of not "loose ends" but things we don't get to see happen in this story, so I thought those would be good starting points for another story. What do you think? Anyway, more on that later. If you're reading this, I want to THANK YOU for staying with me this whole time. You guys are incredible. Thanks to: kitkat299, CrazyBananasHannahs, LilRockerStar, usuihentai727_, _and DannySamLover20 for reviewing. Special shout out to DannySamLover20 because he/she was the VERY FIRST person to review this story, and has reviewed almost all, if not all, chapters since. Also want to thank one of my other regular readers __who didn't review on the last chapter, but I know reads this story and may eventually read this author's note: __KellyTheLovatic! Also, this story is dedicated to Sophbells who motivated me to write a SWAC story. She's been M.I.A. from fanfiction world for awhile, but I hope she eventually reads the rest of this story. Also, special thanks to kitkat299 for putting me in your favorite authors list, I'm guessing that's because I said I take it as a huge compliment, so thanks! ALSO special thanks to kitkat299 and LilRockerStar who both said the last chapter made them tear up a little. That was very nice to hear. (Yeah, I just thanked you for crying... that was weird, but I hope you know what I mean!) Anyway... SO MANY THANK YOUS! Thanks for all the support! And if you really did just read this whole author's note from beginning to end, thanks for persevering! :p Anyway, please review and enjoy chapter ten! _

Sonny's POV:

"I'm sorry, but the flight's been delayed." The woman I was talking to sighed and glanced at the line of people behind me. "There's nothing I can do."

"Do you have any idea how long its going to be delayed?" I asked, trying to sound patient and understanding, despite the fact that I had felt like I was about to burst into tears ever since I left the studio.

The woman shot me an irritated glare. "Two or three hours."

"Two or three _hours_?" I said, my heart sinking. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Miss, there are other people waiting to speak to me. There's nothing more I can do for you." The airport employee waved her hand, as if shooing me away. "Have a nice day."

"Yeah. Thanks." I mumbled, walking slowly back over to my seat in the waiting area. As I sat down I heard my phone buzz. Half afraid it was Chad, I glanced at the sender. Tawni. Taking a deep breath, I hit read.

**From: Tawni **

**Sent at: 4:35 PM **

**Hey, I don't know if this will even matter to you anymore, but I thought you should know. Chad said Rebecca kissed him and that he told her he didn't like her like that. Sonny, I know you think you're doing the right thing but- **

Quickly, I hit the back button before I could read the rest of the text. _I don't believe her. Chad's just trying to spare my feelings. He doesn't really care about me anymore. If he did, he would be here by now. _I felt tears brim in my eyes and hastily grabbed a magazine from a near-by table to distract myself. I opened it to a random page, and looked down. A picture of Chad stared back at me. _Oh, great. _Sighing, I dropped the magazine and picked up new one. Just then, I heard two girls talking behind me.

"Didn't I tell you it was the cutest thing ever?"

"It really is. I can't believe they're not together! What is Sonny thinking?" I stiffened. _No way are these girls talking about me and Cha- _"Her and Chad are perfect for eachother! How can she not see it?" The girl continued. I felt my throat tighten. "I mean seriously, if a guy wrote this stuff about me, I'd marry him!" _Wait... wrote what stuff? _

"Yeah, no joke. Listen to this, this is my favorite part. 'Every time I look at Sonny, all I can do is wonder if she knows how beautiful she is, and how much just seeing her knocks me off my feet. Even when we were just enemies, I thought she was hot, but now every time she kisses me, I just want to tell her how gorgeous she is. And its true. Sonny _is _gorgeous, and the most gorgeous thing about her is that she doesn't know how beautiful she is.'"

"Awww! But I like the entries from after she left even better. Like this part, right here. 'I can't believe Sonny is coming back to So Random. After she left it was kind of like a blur. I ate, and slept, and walked, and talked like a normal person, but I felt like Sonny had ripped my heart out and taken it with her to Wisconsin. Now that she's coming back all I can think about is telling her how I still feel about her. But knowing Sonny and me, something will probably go wrong. Maybe before it does though I'll be able to tell her that I still care about her. That I've dreamed about her every night since she left. That I still pray that its her every time I hear my phone ring. That I listen to the songs she sang on the show over and over again, pretending she's hear with me. That I think I might love her. That I think I _do _love her.'"

As the girls continued to giggle and aww over Chad's journal, I gripped the arms of my chair. _Chad...loves...me? _The thought came slowly, but as the truth hit home, I felt myself rise from my chair. My knees were wobbling and I could hardly think, but one thought surfaced clearly. _I have to see __Chad. _Grabbing my purse and my carry on bag, I started to run toward the nearest exit, past caring about my other luggage. Behind me, I heard one of the girls say, "Was that... _Sonny_?"

Chad's POV:

"Alright guys, in ten minutes the show's going to start. We are going to have an excited audience, and I don't want them to go away disappointed." Marshall glanced around at all of us. "You are all great, I know you can work with all the last minute changes. Sonny believed in you, I believe in you, so I want you to put all of your personal problems aside, and go out and make this one heck of a good show."

"Marshall..." Grady said, after a second of silence, "this means Sonny's never coming back, doesn't it?"

Marshall looked away. "I think it does Grady."

I ran my hands through my hair, feeling as if I wanted to fall down on the floor and never get up. "Marshall, I don't know if I can do this."

"Chad, you have to. For the good of the show. For the good of your castmates. For the good of your image. You're an actor. Act like nothings wrong."

I stared at him. _Act like nothing's wrong? Sonny's gone. That's impossible to hide. There has to be a way to get her back. There has to be a way to tell her I love her. _Realizing Marshall and the rest of the cast was still waiting for my answer,I nodded and sighed.

"Good. Now I wanted to talk to you all about the extra time at the end of the show when Sonny would have performed. I was thinking maybe one of you could sing a song..." He looked around, as if gauging our reactions to that. _Sing a song? That's it! _

"Marshall!" I said, suddenly. "I have a plan."

Sonny's POV:

"Can't you go any faster?" I asked my cab driver, glancing at the time. The show would be about to start.

"Lady, we're in a traffic jam. Nothing I can do about that." The driver honked his horn and then glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "See? Nothing."

I sat forward in my seat. "You don't understand, its really important, a matter of heart and love!" I babbled, not sure what I was saying, but knowing the sooner I was back in Chad's arms the better. _If he'll still have me... I did just leave him and the other Randoms to fend for themselves on tonight's show. They might all hate me. _Quickly, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and tapped the driver's arm. "Listen, I'll pay you double whatever my bill is if you can get me to Condor Studios in fifteen minutes."

He raised his eyebrows in interest, but then shook his head. "Sorry, no can do. With traffic like this, you're not going to be getting there for another thirty minutes at least."

I sighed and slumped back in my seat, then immediately sat up straight again as traffic inched forward and the car moved a few feet. "Yes!" My yell of victory was punctuated by a loud pop and the wheeze of air escaping from a tire.

"Uh-oh, sounds like a flat. Must have run over some glass. That'll slow us down some." The cab driver sounded almost cheery.

"Are you kidding me?" I glanced at the clock again. "You know what, I don't have time for this." I reached in my purse and drew out a wad of dollar bills. "Take it." I threw it toward him, grabbed my bags, and clambered out of the car.

"Are you crazy?" The driver shouted.

"No, but I think I'm in love!" I yelled back before starting to run through the maze of cars, praying traffic wouldn't start moving again.

Chad's POV:

I waited backstage as Nico, Grady, Tawni, and Zora introduced the show and broke the news to the audience that Sonny wasn't going to be there. I could practically hear the groans of disappointment and curious murmurs as the audience adjusted to the fact that for some reason So Random's guest star was M.I.A.

"Hey Chad." I turned and saw Shayne standing behind me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, sure, I guess." I said warily, confused as to why the guy I'd always considered to be my competition with Sonny suddenly wanted to have a friendly chat. We had hardly spoken this entire week.

Shayne stared at the ground, looking embarrassed, then finally met my gaze. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay..." I said slowly.

"Sonny didn't take your journal. I did."

"WHAT?"

"I sent for the reporters too. Well actually..." he looked away, "they weren't reporters. They were just friends of mine dressed up like reporters and photographers. There wasn't even any film in the cameras. I set you guys up."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists at my sides. _If the guy didn't look so miserable, I'd punch him right here and now. _"Why? Why did you do it? HOW did you do it?"

"Well, I think you should know, I didn't do it alone. From Rebecca. And we did it.. well, for lots of reasons."

"Name a few." I said quietly, feeling my anger rise.

"Well, for one thing, I liked Sonny. It was obvious her attention was focused on you and I thought if you guys were left alone you'd probably start going out again. I needed a way to convince her you were the bad guy and I was the one for her. You know how it is."

"Actually, I don't. I don't _lie _to girls to get them to go out with me." I said slowly, my whole spine tensed. _I can't believe Shayne would sink that low. _

He looked down at his feet, sheepish. "Well, yeah. Anyway, I had stumbled across the flash drive with your journal on it about a day before Sonny came back to So Random. I was just going to keep it until you realized it was missing and let you freak out a little bit before I gave it back. But when I met Sonny, I realized that was the key to setting you two against eachother."

"How does Rebecca fit into all of this?" I asked, interrupting him.

"I'm getting to that. Rebecca saw the flash drive and asked what it was. I tried to act like it was nothing, but she kept pestering me about it, so I finally told her. I thought she'd tell everyone what I was doing as soon as she knew, but she didn't. She told me she understood how I felt. She wanted you and Sonny to stay apart too, but for other reasons."

"Like what?" I said.

"Well for one thing, she said if Sonny came back to the show, Marshall would scrap the idea of her having more lines in the upcoming shows, and that she'd be stuck as a dancer forever. So she figured that if you and her went back to being enemies, she'd be less likely to stay on the show. Also, Rebecca's always liked you, and she wanted to keep you single until she could get her hooks in you."

I blinked. "Wait, Rebecca wanted Sonny to leave. You wanted her to be your girlfriend, which pretty much requires her staying in Hollywood. How does that work out?"

Shayne shrugged. "I figured if we got together, she _would _stay in Hollywood, even if she wasn't on the show anymore. I didn't care if she was on So Random or not. She's just... you know, hot and stuff."

I closed my eyes and clenched my fists again, trying to curb my desire to beat the crap out of this guy. _He didn't even care about her dreams. He just wanted her to be his arm candy. I'm going to kill him. _"So you and her came up with the idea to watch Sonny and I, then send in fake reporters and photographers at an opportune time and get some dirt, which would make Sonny hate me, and then you could rush in and be the hero by getting the pictures back?" I said, disbelievingly.

"Well... yeah. Basically. We wanted to make sure there was no chance you guys would ever be interested in eachother again, so we figured the journal wasn't enough."

I shook my head. "I can't believe this. Why are you telling me this now? You know I could get you fired for this."

Shayne winced, then nodded. "I know. I'm telling you now for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I realized that, well, that you and Sonny really do love eachother. I guess I thought it was just kind of a passing thing, but when I saw you crying over her letter today..." He trailed off, then started talking again. "And the other reason is that I thought maybe, if I told you everything and said how sorry I am for this whole stupid mess, you might _not _get me fired." He gave me a small smile.

"What about Rebecca?" I said slowly.

"She's still into you. But she admits that the whole thing got out of hand. And she felt kind of bad about Sonny leaving after all. She's not such a bad chick. Hot, too."

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you like _her _too?"

Shayne looked confused, as if seriously considering the question. "I didn't _think _I did but..." He grinned. "She is really hot."

I rolled my eyes. "Shayne, you lied, you stole, and you made a fool of yourself. If you and Rebecca tell the rest of the cast what really happened, and I do mean _all _of what really happened, and apologize to them and to Sonny if you ever see her again, then I won't tell Marshall or Mr. Condor about your little scheme. Or the cops."

He gulped then smiled weakly. "Thanks Chad. We will."

"Oh and good luck with Rebecca. I think you two are meant to be." _And I don't mean that as a compliment. _I turned away from him.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, Chad, don't you want to punch me in the nose or something?"

"Nope." I said, not bothering to turn around. "Sonny would want me to forgive you. That's the kind of wonderful person she is." _Besides, you're not worth the effort it would take to smash your face in. _

"Okay, well, see you later then." He walked away as I took a deep breath.

_Well at least that's over with. _Suddenly I thought of something. "Wait, Shayne where is the flashdrive with my journal on it?"

"Oh, right. It's in the-"

Shayne was interrupted by Marshall's yell from the other side of the backstage area. "Chad, you're up! Take your place on the stage!"

Sonny's POV:

"Taxi!" I yelled, desperately trying to flag one down. I glanced at my watch. The show would have definitely started by now, and it would still take at least ten minutes to get to the studio. "TAXI!" I screamed, and waved my arm frantically. _Come on! I ran through an airport, endured an annoying cab driver, risked my life running through traffic, and walked six blocks to get away from a traffic jam, and now I can't get a taxi to pull over for me? _"TAXIIII!" I yelled one more time, and, finally, a taxi pulled over to the curb in front of me. "Oh my gosh, thank you!" I said to the driver. "Condor Studios, please. And step on it!"

The driver turned around and gave me a confused look. "I'm sorry Miss, but my engine died. That's why I pulled over. Don't you see the smoke?" He pointed to the front of his car, where a plume of smoke escaped the hood.

"Oh." I said faintly. "My mistake. I just really need to get to Condor Studios because I think my ex-boyfriend still loves me and I want to tell I love him too and-"

"Excuse me Miss, but I really need to take care of my engine trouble. If you need to get to Condor Studios that badly, I'd suggest flagging down another taxi. It's a ten minute drive from here at least, and that's if you're practically speeding."

"Thanks for your help." I said, grabbing my bags and getting out of the car. "TAXI!"

Chad's POV:

I took a deep breath as the final sketch came to a close. This was it. The moment I'd risk total humiliation in front of the entire world. The moment when I just might win Sonny back. I took another deep breath. _Total humiliation or not, its worth it. _

Zora, Audrey, and Bridget smiled into the camera onstage. "And now for a very special treat. Our very own Chad Dylan Cooper singing a song he wrote himself! Give it up for Chaddy!" They ran off stage as I walked on, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.

After the applause died down, I smiled out at the crowd and the cameras. _I've never been this nervous in my life. _"Hey everyone! Having fun so far tonight?" The crowd cheered and clapped. I grinned. "Good to know." I waited for a second as a laugh rippled through the audience. _This is it. _"As most of you know, about a year ago, I was dating a girl named Sonny Munroe, who was supposed to guest star this evening. I know she regrets not being able to be here, but it actually kind of worked out well for me." I walked over and picked up a guitar left on the stage for me and slipped the strap over my head. "See, there's been something I've been wanting to tell Sonny for a long time. And I thought, 'What better way to tell her than through a song on her favorite TV show, with all her fans and the entire world watching?' and then I almost threw up and gave up on the idea." I chuckled as the audience laughed again. "But some of my good friends here on the So Random cast talked me back into it. So here's what I want to say." I looked straight into the camera, hoping that if Sonny was watching, she'd be able to see how sincere I was. "Sonny, I'm risking total humiliation, in front of the entire world. I don't even know if you're watching this right now, or where in the world you are, but I wanted to tell you... I love you." The entire crowd erupted into "AWWW!"'s, but I barely noticed. I waited for quiet again, then continued. "Sonny Munroe, you are a beautiful, amazing girl, and I want the entire world to know how I feel about you. I would like nothing better than for you to forgive me for all my stupid mistakes and be my girlfriend again. I know now without a doubt, you are the one for me." I started to strum on my guitar and the band behind me got the idea and began to pick up the music as well. "I love you Sonny. This song is for you." I started to sing.

_Can't blame you for thinking,  
>That you never really knew me at all,<br>I tried to deny you,  
>But nothing ever made me feel so wrong,<em>

_I thought I was protecting you,_  
><em>From everything that I go through,<em>  
><em>But I know that we got lost along the way,<em>

_Here I am with all my heart,_  
><em>I hope you understand,<em>  
><em>I know I let you down,<em>  
><em>But I'm never gonna make,<em>  
><em>That mistake again,<em>  
><em>You brought me closer,<em>  
><em>To who I really am,<em>  
><em>Come take my hand,<em>  
><em>I want the world to see,<em>  
><em>What you mean to me,<em>  
><em>What you mean to me,<em>

_Just know that I'm sorry,_  
><em>I never wanted to make you feel so small,<em>  
><em>Our story is just beginning,<em>  
><em>But let the truth break down these walls,<em>

_And every time I think of you,_  
><em>I think of how you pushed me through,<em>  
><em>And show me how much better I could be,<em>

_Here I am with all my heart.  
>I hope you understand,<br>I know I let you down,  
>But I'm never gonna make,<br>That mistake again,  
>You brought me closer,<br>To who I really am,  
>Come take my hand,<br>I want the world to see,  
>What you mean to me,<em>

_You make me feel like I'm myself,_  
><em>Instead of being someone else,<em>  
><em>I wanna live that every day,<em>  
><em>You say what no one else will say,<em>  
><em>You know exactly how to get to me,<em>  
><em>You know it's what I need,<em>  
><em>It's what I need yeah,<em>

_Here I am with all my heart,_  
><em>I hope you understand,<em>  
><em>I know I let you down,<em>  
><em>But I'm never gonna make that mistake again,<em>  
><em>You brought me closer,<em>  
><em>To who I really am,<em>  
><em>So come take my hand,<em>  
><em>I want the world to see,<em>  
><em>What you mean to me,<em>  
><em>What you mean to me,<em>

As the music faded the crowd went wild. I stepped back from the microphone, smiling. As they continued to cheer, I noticed some of them pointing frantically to something behind me, and cameras were flashing all over the place. My heart beating fast, I turned around. It was her. _Sonny. _

Sonny's POV:

I stood there on the stage, tears streaming down my face, with the cameras rolling and the fans screaming their heads off, but I barely realized what was going on. All I knew was that Chad had sung that beautiful song for me. And that I loved him. Other than that, I was completely lost in his shining blue eyes.

I wasn't even sure who moved first, but the next thing I knew we were standing just about a foot apart. Slowly he reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. The crowd hushed, or maybe my brain just blocked them out. I said, "Chad, I'm scared. I'm not perfect. I'm going to get mad, and we'll fight like we sometimes do, and you might not want to be my boyfriend anymore, and there's so much you don't know about me, but I do-" I stopped as Chad placed a finger on my lips.

"Sonny, please, just kiss me." And then he leaned forward and. He. Kissed. Me.

I had thought that if Chad ever did kiss me again, it would be amazing, but it would be pretty much old news. More of an "oh, I remember this!" feeling than anything. I was wrong. It was dynamite. He kissed me until I forgot my name, age, where I'd been born, everything. It was like a drug. All I knew was that I was in Chad's arms and he loved me. And that was all I needed to know.

The next thing I knew, the cameras were off, but the audience was still on its feet and cheering. Chad grinned and pulled me backstage, where he continued to kiss me until I couldn't breathe and my knees went weak. When Chad realized he was literally holding me up, he laughed and pulled away. His blue eyes sparkled and snapped as I'd never seen them before. I expected him to make fun of me, but instead he just grinned and said, "I feel lightheaded. Did anyone ever tell you what a good kisser you are?"

"N-no." I stuttered, then smiled.

"The boys in Wisconsin are idiots." He said, then gave me one more quick peck. "I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of doing that."

"Good." I smiled and returned the peck.

He toyed with my hair and grinned again. "So you love me?"

"Yes, Chad. I love you... so much." I said, smiling. "That's what I was trying to tell onstage before you, well, shut me up.

His grin faded, replaced by a sweet smile. "I love you too sweetheart. More than you'll ever know." He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head on his chest.

"Oh, by the way, I have something of yours." I partially pulled away from him and opened my hand.

He picked it up, confused. "A film canister?"

"Here." I opened it, and a flashdrive slid out. "Shayne hid it in here. He hoped I'd throw it away or destroy it. The worst that could happen is that I get caught with it, which would just drive us two-" I made a motion between me and Chad. "-farther apart."

Chad's arms tightened protectively around me. "He's such a jerk. I'm still half-tempted to murder him."

I laughed and pecked him on the cheek. "That's very sweet, but unnecessary."

He gave me a confused look. "Wait, how do you know about Shayne and Rebecca anyway?"

I smiled. "I got here during the last sketch. Shayne filled me in and gave me this to give to you."

"You got here during the last sketch? Then why didn't you come out to me when I was making my declaration of love into a camera and kind of making an idiot of myself out there?" Chad said.

"Well for one thing, I wanted to see if you really loved me enough to go through with it." I grinned. "And for another thing you didn't make an idiot out of yourself. That was the nicest-" I kissed him. "-bravest-" I kissed him again. "-most amazing-" And again. "-fantastic-" And again. "-beautiful-" And again. "-thing anyone has ever done for me."

Chad smiled. "Is this how you say thank you? I like it."

"Hey Chad!" We both turned to see the rest of the cast standing there. It was Nico who had spoken. "Mind if we pry your girlfriend away from you long enough to give her some hugs?"

"Sure!" I answered for him, then laughed as I tried to walk away and Chad's arms didn't release me. Finally, he reluctantly let me go long enough for everyone to get a hug, then pulled me close again.

"So Sonny," Matthew smiled at me, "does this mean you're going to be joining the So Random cast again... permanently?"

"Well," I looked timidly at everyone, "if you want me to come back..." If a giant group hug qualified as a yes, I got my answer.

So surrounded by my So Random family and friends, not to mention my boyfriend, I knew for sure my adventures weren't over yet. They were just beginning. But I also knew that I was _finally _right back where I belonged. I was finally home.

_AN: Sooooo... what'd you think? I really hope you liked it! Thank you SO MUCH for caring enough about my cheesy little story to read all the way to the end. I'm pretty sure I will be writing a short epilogue, but we'll call this the end anyway. So, thanks! A virtual high five to everyone who liked it! *SLAP!* Anyway, uh, I think I pretty much covered all the thank yous in the first author's note, so lets head on to the disclaimers! The song in this chapter obviously isn't mine, its called What You Mean to Me, originally sung by Drew Ryan Scott. I also don't own Sonny With a Chance or So Random or any of the characters except Rebecca and Celia, who I created. Anyway, now on to more important subjects. Should I do a sequel? Yes, no, maybe so? Just so you know here's a basic idea of what I see happening in the sequel_: _Sonny's dad's wedding, Chad and Sonny learning how to be a couple again, more Mel/Grady stuff (my total bad by the way, I meant to write Mel into the story and then I never did), more Celia and Matthew stuff, and basically just keeping up with all the couples in this story, __plus some DRAMA in the form of the Mackenzie Falls cast making some reappearances at Condor Studios. __What do you think? Just so you know, I WOULD NOT have Sonny and Chad break up again, they have been through enough relationship changes in my opinion:p So yeah, let me know what you think about a sequel, thank you SO MUCH for reading, and I hope all of you find your very own Chad/Sonny. -bookwormatheart_


	11. Letting you all know: there's a sequel!

For anyone who reads this: Just Enemies now has a sequel! (I know, took me long enough, right?) I just posted chapter two. It's called All's Fair in Love and Feuds, and I'm excited to see where it goes. So if you really wanted a sequel to this story, I guess this is your lucky day! :) If you have time, please read what I have up so far and let me know what you think. I really hope you enjoy it. I just thought I'd let you all know, since a lot of people who read this story told me that I should do a sequel.


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